DC police arrest two men in connection to 2023 deadly nightclub shooting - WTOP News (2025)

D.C. police arrested and charged two men Friday in connection to a 2023 nightclub shootingin Northeast that left one man dead.

Cotey Wynn, 44, of Northeast, and Antwan Shelton, 41, of Southeast, were arrested and charged first-degree murder while armed in the death of Blake Bozeman, 31, of Southeast, D.C. police said.

Just before midnight on Sept. 23, 2023, police said officers responded to the report of a shooting at the Cru lounge and nightclub in the 1300 block of H Street in Northeast.

There, they found three men and one woman shot. All four were transported by D.C. Fire and EMS to hospitals.

Bozeman, a graduate and former basketball player for Morgan State University in Baltimore, died after succumbing to his injuries. The two other men and woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries, D.C. police said.

Shelton and Wynn could be seen on security video speaking to each other, leaving the bar to retrieve a handgun from a vehicle and returning to the nightclub. There, they waited for Bozeman to walk by, before he was shot in the abdomen.

In the moments following, Shelton reportedly attempted to hide the gun, but tripped while walking toward a table and exposed the weapon. At that point, he fired it at least two times at a group of people while trying to get back up.

According to court documents, Shelton fired nine shots in the direction of the dance floor inside the crowded club, striking Bozeman twice and at least three other people.

Court documents state that when police investigators spoke with security guards, they were told that every man who entered Cru was wanded and patted-down for weapons, but for women, only purses were checked because guards were instructed to not pat them down.

In a letter to D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, police Chief Pamela Smith argued the shooting could “be connected” to what she claimed were “lax security protocols” at the nightclub.

The nightclub was temporarily shut down and had its liquor license suspended after the shooting. In February 2024, the nightclub said it would permanently close, adding, “To those affected by the incident that occurred at CRU DC, please accept our sincere condolences.”

Wynn reportedly worked for the Office of the Attorney General for D.C.’s “Cure the Streets” public safety program aimed at reducing gun violence. In a 2020 blog post, the OAG program spotlight Wynn for his work as a violence interrupter in the District’s Trinidad neighborhood and for overcoming a life of crime and subsequent incarceration.

WTOP has reached out to the OAG for comment.

A preliminary hearing for Shelton and Wynn is scheduled for April 1.

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