3 Dead, 7 Injured as “Party at Club Lau” Ends in Tragedy
By Otto Foots
CAMPUS — Two Georgetown students and a DPS officer were killed and seven students were injured early Saturday morning in a shooting that broke out outside an event at Lauinger Library, the hot, alcohol-free campus dance club. The event, Party at Club Lau 
7: Pimpzzz an’ Bitchezzz Who Is Soberzzz Like Octoberzzz in da Woodstock Theological Center Library, was sponsored by What’s After Dark. It ended abruptly at approximately 1 AM as students who were in the club panicked.
7: Pimpzzz an’ Bitchezzz Who Is Soberzzz Like Octoberzzz in da Woodstock Theological Center Library, was sponsored by What’s After Dark. It ended abruptly at approximately 1 AM as students who were in the club panicked.Witnesses reported that the conflict began when John Franklin (MSB ’10), who was leaving the club, ran into an acquaintance, Pat O’Davis (MSB ’09). Franklin yelled at O’Davis, according to the witnesses, asking O’Davis why he had not called Franklin to invite him to parties this year in O’Davis’ Village A apartment. O’Davis replied that he had not hosted any parties this year because of the new alcohol policy, and the altercation escalated. Franklin said that O’Davis’ reply was “bullshit” and that he blamed O’Davis for not being able to get drunk for over three months. O’Davis replied that he did not care, and Franklin pulled out a gun and shot O’Davis in the head, killing him instantly. Franklin then shot and killed another student, Jared Koepplinger (COL ’11), who had been trying to restrain him. Awakened by the shots, the DPS guard on duty, Frank Johnson, came out of Lauinger with his nightstick drawn, but was quickly shot and killed by Franklin. Other DPS officers did not arrive for almost twenty minutes, well after Franklin fled the scene. DPS stated that all students involved were sober.
Franklin and O’Davis were both members of the campus College Republicans. O’Davis’ roommates have confirmed that they have not held any major parties at their residence this year because of new regulations.
The event was held on the lower level of the dance club in an area known as the “Woodstock Theological Center Library.” When an unidentified person entered and alerted the crowd to the shooting, a panic ensued. Party-goers streamed out of Lauinger and seven students were trampled, later being released from Georgetown University Hospital after their injuries were treated there. The dance party featured a deejay, sweaty college students, and illegal immigrants in tuxedos serving crackers and soda.
After fleeing the scene, Franklin reportedly took a cab to Dulles International Airport. Real police officers, according to DPS, apprehended Franklin while he was trying to board a flight to Italy, where his family owns a summer home on Lake Como. “This was a classic nightclub shooting, but this time, we nabbed the suspect instead of rushing away to break up a party in Burleith,” said an MPD spokesman.
DPS has cited Franklin’s sobriety as a major factor in the incident, saying that the lack of 
alcohol in his body made him more volatile, less likely to compromise, and allowing him the dexterity to kill three people.
alcohol in his body made him more volatile, less likely to compromise, and allowing him the dexterity to kill three people. What’s After Dark is an administration organization that was created this year to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on events designed to keep students at the University from drinking alcohol. Most of these events are attended solely by quiet Asian girls who like to watch Matthew McConaughey movies in the Village C Alumni Lounge between studying on weekend nights, but the Parties at Club Lau have been attended by a wide variety of bored students and drunk students looking for a stop between parties.
Tanesha Stewart, the lead administrator of What’s After Dark, rejected the report and charges that the new alcohol policy has shattered the already tenuous sense of community between Georgetown students. “John Franklin did not shoot people because he was sober,” Stewart said. “He shot people because Party at Club Lau was just too vibrant, too respectful, and too engaging for him. Some people can’t handle that, but we aren’t going to stop making our events less vibrant, respectful, and engaging just because somebody shot people. That’s not how the Georgetown administration works. I don’t know why John said he wanted alcohol, but I can assure you no student at this university is interested in alcohol anymore.” Stewart and Todd Olson have announced new, stricter alcohol regulations in response to the shooting.
Franklin was reportedly denied the use of protein supplements while he was held in jail. He is out on bail, has hired a high-priced lawyer, and is expected to be acquitted of all charges.
The event poster.
John Franklin (file photo).
