6 injured in violence at 2 nightclubs

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Providence police are investigating after violence broke out at two nightclubs Sunday morning.

Six people were hurt at Level 2 on Richmond Street at about 2:30 a.m., including five who were stabbed and one who was hit in the head with a beer bottle.  All of those injuries occurred inside the club.  The victims were:

• A 27 year-old club bouncer from Cranston, who was stabbed twice in the chest.
• A 29 year-old man from Dorchester, Mass., who was stabbed once in the chest and one in the temple and found in a pool of blood on the dance floor.
• A 24 year-old Providence man who was stabbed in the hand.
• A 22 year-old Dorchester man who was stabbed five times in the face, back and chest.
• A 28 year-old Dorchester man who was stabbed in the upper chest.
• And a 27 year-old Dorchester man who was hit in the head with a bottle.

All of those victims are expected to survive their injuries.

Major Thomas Oates Tells Eyewitness News that every on-duty Providence Police officer was called to the scene to try to control the chaos.  Officers found nearly 150 people still inside the club, with 12 fighting when they arrived, while nearly 200 people were getting ready to fight in a parking lot outside.

Several people were arrested for disorderly conduct, although police did not specify how many arrests were made.  Oates also said it was too early to determine if the violence was gang-related.  Meanwhile, the Providence Board of Licenses has scheduled an emergency meeting for Sunday night to discuss the incident.

Earlier in the morning, police responded to a fight outside Snub's nightclub on North Main Street, where officer found two men in their forties on the street.  One of those men had been shot in the thigh and the other had been pistol-whipped.  So far there have been no arrests in that incident, which is believed to have been a robbery.