Warren police traveled to Columbus on Tuesday to take into custody a man wanted locally on a weapons charge and for questioning in the Jan. 1 fatal shooting at the Sunset Lounge.
Orlonzo Murry of Warren had been at the Franklin County Jail since shortly after U.S. Marshals arrested him about 2 a.m. Saturday in Columbus. He was wanted in Warren on a warrant on the charge of having a weapon in a liquor establishment - the Sunset Lounge.
A representative at the Franklin County Jail confirmed that he was released to Warren police Tuesday afternoon.
He was scheduled to be arraigned today in Trumbull County on that charge. Meanwhile, police said they were also planning to question him about the New Year's Day shooting that left Cory Blackwell, 25, of Warren dead.
Warren police said they are not treating Murry as a suspect in the Sunset shooting but as a ''person of interest'' wanted on the separate firearms charge.
Police said based on their investigation they believe Murry was at the East Market Street club, which has since closed, at the time of the shooting.
Municipal Court records show the warrant for Murry was issued Jan. 15. It lists a Bennett Avenue N.W. address for him.
Warren police confirmed they had been looking for Murry since shortly after the shooting and realized he had left the area. Police said they do not know why Murry was in Columbus and are not aware of any ties he has to that area.
A judge in Franklin County set Murry's bond at $10,000 at a hearing on Monday. If he had posted bail, he could have been released from Franklin County Jail and would have had to report to Warren on his own.
He had not not posted bail on Tuesday, leaving the door open for Warren police to take him into custody and move him to Trumbull County.
No other arrests have been made in the case.
Blackwell was fatally shot after a fight broke out on the dance floor of the controversial club during a New Year's party, according to police reports. The shooting also left a Warren woman wounded in the foot. Police found Blackwell outside the bar.
The Blackwell shooting was among several marks against the Sunset that city officials cited as their reasons for wanting to controversial club closed. City leaders objected to a renewal of its liquor license before the shooting.
A hearing to have the license suspended in February was canceled after attorneys for the bar's owners stipulated to three of five charges against the holder of the liquor license. Attorney James Sanders, representing the city, and Dennis DiMartino, representing building owner and license holder Joseph Sankey Jr., agreed to the charges of failure to notify the division of liquor control of a change of an ownership interest, that a felon had an interest in the liquor permit, and that liquor had been purchased from an unauthorized dealer are factually true.
Two other charges were eliminated.
The felon in question is LaShawn Ziegler, who was found to have "hidden ownership" in the lounge, even though doing so was prohibited.
Previously, city official had also expressed concerns about the club, arguing that police had answered 20 calls in reference to the Sunset, which opened last May, over a four-month period in 2012.
Although Blackwell's murder remains Warren's only homicide of the year, it was the city's second fatal shooting in less than two months, sparking concerns among residents, business owners and city officials about crime in the downtown area near the Sunset. On Nov. 11, Marco Dukes Sr., 32, of Warren, was killed in what detectives have described as a major gun battle on Elm Court not far from the Sunset. Two men are awaiting trial in that case.