Bar owner, patrons react after shooting at The Block

Regular customers at The Block Bar and Grill took time Thursday afternoon to hug and console the bar’s owner, Saul Chavez.

Chavez said he hadn’t slept in more than 35 hours.

On Wednesday night, a man was shot at The Block while celebrating his wife’s birthday. He was sent to the hospital with injuries to his chest and hand.

Man hospitalized after being shot inside Cathedral City bar

“You know it s not just here. It’s things that are happening everywhere and unfortunately it has happened to us a couple of times now and it is hard to explain,” Chavez said.This is the second shooting to happen this year at The Block. In March, two men were shot and injured in the parking lot. Attempted murder charges were brought against two Desert Hot Springs men who were arrested. Three men are also awaiting trial for a beating that occurred in the parking lot in June 2016. That victim died of his injuries months later.

Patrons at The Block say they feel safe coming in to hang out and grab a pint a beer but they say the bar is in a rough neighborhood.

“We live in Cathedral City, and where we live is a little oasis, but it is all around us we see it on the news every night knifing hit and run it’s all here,” said Debbie Wallace, a regular customer at The Block.

“Then you have these idiots that come in, and someone says something they don’t like, and their first reaction is going out and grabbing a gun or grabbing a knife,” said Roy Weeks who often drinks with friends at the bar after work.

“I think that some of these kids, some of them you can’t even tell they are in a gang, but I think the gang situation is getting pretty bad again,” Chavez said.

Chavez said he is stepping up security at the bar and is working closely with the Cathedral City Police Department. Anyone with information on Wednesday night’s shooting is asked to contact police.

JOE GALLI IS ON FACEBOOK AND ON TWITTER @JOEGALLINEWS.