Community members say Diamond Lounge should be shut down

A memorial to Samuel Njikang in the Diamond Lounge parking lot.

Friends of Samuel Njikang, who was fatally shot outside the Diamond Lounge in Annandale Oct. 30, say the club should be shut down. Other community members have been complaining for years about unruly mobs and noise at the Diamond.

According to the police, there was an altercation in the parking lot when Njikang was shot. He was taken to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. A friend, Jiji Kerolus, is hosting a GoFundMe page to help his mother pay for funeral costs. She remembers Njikang as a kind person who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

So far, over 880 people signed an online petition posted by Miguel Mota calling for the Diamond Lounge to be closed. “My good friend was murdered and the club had no respect,” Mota says, noting the Diamond had a Halloween party the night after the murder. “It’s time for them to pay for their actions.”

According to Mota, the security cameras at the Diamond Lounge hadn’t been working the night of the shooting but were fixed the following day.

Another Annandale resident says he was shocked by the murder but says there are always lots of fights and broken glass in the parking lot. He went to Annandale High School at the same time Njikang was on the AHS soccer team but didn’t know him well.

The Diamond Lounge, at 7203 Little River Turnpike, Annandale.

He dropped by on Oct. 31 and said the bouncer “acted like nothing happened. They didn’t care that someone died.” The club has three armed security guards at the door who pat people down but don’t check IDs and let people younger than 21 inside, he says.

“I don’t even feel safe there,” he says. “I always feel safe in Annandale. We need to shut this place down. It makes Annandale look really bad.”

Related story: Friends of Annandale homicide victim seek funds to help his mother with funeral costs

“The Diamond Lounge doesn’t cater to Annandale people. People come from Maryland and other areas.” he says.

The club is not enforcing social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. When he dropped by about a month ago, he says, at least 100 people were packed inside and no one was wearing a mask.

Fairfax County Supervisor Penny Gross (Mason) calls the Diamond Lounge “a scourge on our community.” She has heard a lot of complaints about drugs and fights, and “the problems seem to be escalating.” When the D.C. government took action against nightclubs due to COVID, “folks are gravitating to Fairfax County.”

Gross is working with county officials to determine whether the Diamond is violating zoning codes and permits. She says Fairfax County police don’t have the authority to enforce COVID rules on masks; it’s up to the Virginia Department of Health to do that.