Sam’s Tavern in Bellevue Remains Closed Indefinitely after Tragic Shooting

Following the tragic shooting that occurred at Sam’s Tavern on July 6, all locations had closed. Beginning today, the other locations will slowly open, but Bellevue will remain closed.

The victim, Anna “Maxx” Lopez, who was a bartender at Sam’s Tavern in Downtown Bellevue on 108th Avenue Northeast, was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot by her estranged husband. According to the Bellevue Police, he was apprehended later that evening and is being held on $3 million bail.

Formal charges are expected to be filed on Friday against Dylan Jennings for first-degree domestic violence homicide. The police report explains that Jennings stole a gun from his brother’s safe with the intention to kill Lopez after the Fourth of July holiday weekend. He knew her work schedule and planned to commit the crime. According to detectives, Jennings confessed to the murder in an interview after he was in custody.

Sam’s Tavern has four locations in total. They had planned to open all of them back up on July 8, but as noted on their Instagram account, they were not emotionally ready.

After getting together as a team, it was decided to open the SLU and Redmond locations on July 9th, and Capitol Hill on Saturday, July 10th. The Bellevue location will remain closed, indefinitely.

There will be a memorial held for Maxx on July 17th from 1pm to 8pm at Golden Gardens, with more details to follow.

The owners of Sam’s tavern and her coworkers organized a GoFundme in her honor to benefit the local domestic violence support organization LifeWire.

Below is a message that Sam’s Tavern left on their Instagram account with a picture of “Maxx”.

 

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