In the latest episode of Lubbock After Dark, two men — Patrick Bradley, 53, and Tony Johnson, 42 — have been charged with murdering 39-year-old Clifton Holmon during a 2023 shootout at an “afterhours spot” on 35th Street. Because, of course, nothing good ever happens on 35th Street at 3 a.m.
Turns out, this wasn’t just a random late-night argument over warm beer and bad music. Police say it was payback for another murder from 2022, because Lubbock’s version of the Hatfields and McCoys apparently plays out in parking lots behind shuttered bars. Witnesses told police the men had words at CC’s Bar and Grill — a location that, in hindsight, probably should’ve been a red flag for everyone involved. Moments later, bullets were flying, cars were riddled with holes, and detectives were matching shell casings across town like it was a West Texas edition of CSI: Petty Revenge.
Bradley later turned himself in for an aggravated assault charge, claiming he didn’t have a gun — just that there happened to be one nearby in his friend’s car. (We’ve all heard that one before.) Johnson, meanwhile, denied being at the shooting entirely, which is a bold move when your cellphone data literally puts you at the scene.
Between the afterhours shootouts, bar brawls, and “misunderstandings” over old murders, maybe Lubbock PD should just install a permanent command post at CC’s and call it a night.
