Double Murder At Gippers Leads To Bar's Permanent Closure

COAL CITY, IL — Gippers Sports Club, a rural Coal City sports bar and restaurant that had a high volume of police calls and a reputation for attracting known street gang members from Joliet, Aurora and Kendall County, has permanently closed after two Joliet men were fatally shot multiple times inside the bar last September.

Four months later, the killings of 25-year-old Dameonta Terry-Travis of Joliet and 33-year-old Darius D. Travis of Joliet remain unsolved, according to Grundy County Sheriff Ken Briley.

During this week's phone interview with Joliet Patch, Briley urged people who were at the bar that night to come forward and speak with the investigators. People can call the Grundy County Sheriff's Office at 815-942-6645.

"There was somebody in the bar that saw something," Briley emphasized. "I believe there's still pieces of the puzzle that we need to put together at this point. We are still looking for anybody that has information.

"It's still a high priority," Briley remarked on Tuesday. "We're working on it every day, and we're still waiting on evidence sent to the crime lab to be processed."

Briley said that his agency has had the cooperation of the Joliet Police Department as they continue to investigate whether the killer has ties to the Joliet area.

Joliet Patch asked Briley if he believes the slayings were targeted.

"We believe it was," the sheriff answered.

Travis and Terry-Travis were gunned down inside Gippers even though as many as 100 to 150 people were scattered around other parts of the bar on the last weekend in September.

The sheriff said it's his understanding the homicide victims were affiliated with street gangs. Dameonta Terry-Travis had been in the Will County Jail for 14 months in 2020-2021, facing multiple felony charges of felon in possession of a weapon.

As many as 10 gunshots were fired in the bar on Pine Bluff Road around 12:30 a.m. The gunman escaped and sped away before sheriff's deputies and paramedics got to the emergency. The Travises were both pronounced dead inside Gippers.

Both Joliet men were shot multiple times.

In the aftermath of the double murder, Grundy County officials notified Gippers that several security and building improvements were needed in order for Gippers to maintain its liquor license. Briley said the double murder happened in the back of the property, an area that did not have proper permits for building and construction work.

"There were not supposed to be guests in that area," Briley told Patch. "They had not even obtained permission from the county to have patrons in that particular area."

During its last three years of business, Gippers far exceeded the number of police service calls compared to the rest of the rural bars in the jurisdiction of the Grundy County Sheriff's Office.

"Of the seven or eight in the county, that bar clearly had the highest," Briley said.

According to Briley, Gippers stayed open one hour later than most of the bars in the area, giving it a reputation as a place for people who were bar-hopping to visit for one last drink or two before driving home.

Once, Gippers was planning to host a large party for a known street gang member who was celebrating his release from prison, Briley explained. The party got canceled at the last minute because of plumbing problems at Gippers, the sheriff recalled.

While many of the rural Grundy County bars averaged seven or eight police calls for service in a year, Gippers averaged "in the 40s and 50s," Briley said.

Many of the police calls involved fights, assaults, batteries and DUI crashes with serious bodily injury as well as DUI fatalities that tied back to Gippers, the sheriff noted.

Often times, when sheriff's deputies sought to retrieve the video cameras for an incident at Gippers, the staff at the bar told the deputies that the video cameras were not working properly, Briley noted.

After the double murders, Grundy County officials stipulated that Gippers needed to improve the lighting in the parking lot, add 18 functioning video cameras to the facility, upgrade its plumbing and address its sanitary issues in order to renew its liquor license for 2023.

"The state liquor commissioner wanted to be part of the investigation," Briley noted.

Briley said he was under the impression Gippers was making the upgrades to the bar, following the county's list of mandates.

Then, on Dec. 13, Gippers announced on Facebook it was closing. The sheriff said the news was unexpected.

"For 17 years we've had the pleasure to operate our bar and restaurant in Grundy County ... We have decided that it is time for Gippers to close its doors. Our last day of business will be Monday, December 19th, 2022. We ask that you come support us one last time whether it's for a meal or a few cocktails."

The Gippers closing announcement generated a total of 478 Facebook shares and 20 comments.

"We would also like to offer our sincere gratitude to the Grundy County Sheriff's Office and all first responders for their hard work and dedication to ensure the safety of our community. To all those who serve as Grundy County Administrators, Thank You. We would also like to thank our competitors as well, we wish you nothing but happiness and success. Again, the Gippers family thanks you from the bottom of our hearts. God Bless You all."

Related Patch coverage:

2 Joliet Men Slain In Gippers Sports Bar Near Coal City