A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit against Nectar’s following a 2018 shooting outside the Burlington bar.
Chelsi Parker, 27, of Bristol filed suit after being shot in the lung outside the downtown establishment, resulting in a three-week hospitalization.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
The shooter, Rashad Nashid, 37, of Burlington, pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal firearm possession as a felon earlier this year as part of a plea deal.
In exchange, prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, as long as Nashid was sentenced to no less than 11 years on the possession charges.
Police say Nashid got into an altercation with two men — Dennis and Carl Martin — inside the bar the night of the shooting, ultimately pulling his gun, which was confiscated by Nectar’s bouncers. However, the bouncer returned the gun to Nashid as he left the bar.
Later that night, Carl Martin allegedly confronted Nashid on the street outside the bar, punching him and pointing his own gun. Nashid fired two shots in response — one of which hit Parker, who was in a crowd of 15 people standing nearby.
In June, Nectar’s faced a two-day suspension of its liquor license and a $750 fine for the incident, after liquor control authorities argued that staff should have called police rather than holding and returning the gun.
Parker filed suit against Nectar’s in January, almost a year after the near-fatal shooting. On Monday, lawyers for both parties announced that a settlement had been reached.
“In every meaningful way this matter was handled collaboratively and in good faith from the outset, with the common purpose of recognizing a horrible event for what it was, addressing Chelsi’s injuries and future medical needs appropriately, while recognizing and supporting Nectar’s efforts regarding sound firearms policies,” lawyers wrote in a press release.
The parties did not disclose the amount of the settlement.
They did, however, take the incident as an opportunity to make a statement about the need for increased gun control.
“This incident was bigger than one gunshot victim, one bar, one shooter, and one nearly fatal event,” the release notes. “It should stand as a reminder that we as a community need sound gun control policies.”
Nectar’s said it is “committed” to enforcing its zero tolerance policy on firearms in the bar, and is encouraging every alcohol-serving establishment to do the same.
“Chelsi Parker hopes nobody will ever have to go through what she did, to feel life slipping away,” the release concluded. “This incident could have had a far more tragic ending than it did. It holds important lessons that should not be overlooked.”
