Man charged with murder of security guard accompanying him from Harrison Twp. Bear

Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies were called to a shooting at the Palms Lounge at 4950 Old Barn Road just after 1 a.m. Nov. 19, where they shot and killed 30-year-old Jordan Ashe, a security guard at the bar According to an affidavit, he suffered wounds to his chest and right arm.

Officers attempted life-saving measures, but Ashe was pronounced dead at the scene, Maj. Jeremy Roy said.

Witnesses told investigators that Ashe was in a physical altercation with a patron of the bar – later identified as Grooms – when the security guard escorted him out the back patio exit.

Surveillance video and witness statements indicate that Grooms apparently returned to the bar with a gun. Ashe tried to attack the gunman to subdue him when two or three shots were fired, hitting the guard. Another bar employee used pepper spray on the gunman, who dropped his cellphone during the fight, and a bar manager disarmed the man before he fled in his car, court records show.

While emergency responders were investigating the scene, the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center received a report of an accident less than a mile away near the intersection of North Main Street and Shiloh Springs Road involving a car matching the description of the shooter’s vehicle corresponded, said Roy.

The car overturned in the accident and was badly damaged, but the driver fled on foot. Officers and K-9 units attempted to locate the suspect but were unsuccessful. Witnesses provided a description of the driver that reportedly matched that of the Palms Lounge shooter.

“Using the registration of the vehicle and the suspect’s BMV photos, we were then able to verify that it matched the description given to us by everyone at the crime scene and at the scene of the accident,” Roy said.

Sheriff’s detectives were stationed outside Grooms’ home on Woolery Lane in Clayton awaiting a search warrant when Grooms returned home with visible injuries consistent with an accident, Roy said.

Photo credit: Montgomery County Jail

Photo credit: Montgomery County Jail

Officers arrested Grooms, who had bloody clothing, swollen facial injuries and a pungent odor of pepper spray. At his home, investigators found a case for a 9mm handgun with the same serial number as the handgun the bar manager took from the shooter, the affidavit said.

During an interview at the sheriff’s office, Grooms admitted to being at the Palms Lounge but denied having a weapon or being involved in a confrontation. He said he lost his cell phone at some point during the accident; However, a ping of the phone number attributed to Grooms showed the phone remained at the Palms, according to court documents.

Surveillance footage showed the grooms leaving the Palms Lounge before returning shortly before the shooting. The affidavit said there were slight differences in clothing during his two visits that matched items found in his bedroom closet and suggested he may have returned to his home where the gun case was found.

Grooms remains held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1 million bail.

Photo credit: Jim Noelker

Photo credit: Jim Noelker