Empire Pizza & Pub spent the week blasting the city's handling of downtown safety after a gunman wounded nine people outside its patio Sunday, as the Downtown Tucson Partnership pledged new security measures of its own.

A shooter opened fire in a crowded area around 2 a.m. Sunday, striking nine people, before a Tucson police officer stopped him. All nine were stabilized and taken to the hospital, where officials said they were hopeful the victims would recover.

Court documents identified the suspect as 21-year-old David Leroy French.

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said in a statement that records show he had one prior felony conviction from when he was 19, after being charged with a Class 3 felony for firing a weapon during an altercation. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and faced a sentencing range of two to nearly nine years in prison. A probation department assessment found him eligible for intensive probation, and a judge ordered standard probation instead.

Conover said he was still under that supervision, with no documented violations on file, when Sunday's shooting occurred.

The Downtown Tucson Partnership, a nonprofit business advocacy group, said in a Thursday email it has been meeting with the Tucson Police Department, the City of Tucson, elected officials and downtown businesses "to identify immediate actions and long-term strategies" for improving safety in the area.

The group said it plans to expand its Together Tucson initiative with nightlife venues, continue deploying identification technology and information-sharing among participating businesses, and look at improving lighting and activity in areas that feel isolated. It also said it's exploring additional camera infrastructure and closer coordination between its downtown ambassadors, police, business owners and social service providers.

"Recovery is not accomplished singlehandedly, it happens through partnership," the organization wrote, adding that the shooting's effects extend to merchants, employees, residents and visitors beyond those directly hurt.

Mayor Regina Romero, in a statement issued the morning of the shooting, called it "another serious and senseless act of gun violence."

Romero renewed her call for state lawmakers to do more on gun safety, pointing to universal background checks, extreme risk laws and violence-prevention funding as steps Arizona has yet to take. She said the community deserves to feel safe in public spaces, schools, homes, shopping malls and places of worship, and offered prayers for the victims and gratitude to first responders.

Two of the wounded were seated on the patio at Empire Pizza & Pub when the gunfire broke out, according to the restaurant, which has been active on Instagram since the shooting.

In initial posts Sunday, Empire offered prayers for the victims and praised Tucson police for arriving within a minute to render aid.

In a Tuesday post, it said it was disheartened to see the tragedy's focus shift toward gun control, arguing that debate has "zero applicability" to what it says has been happening downtown for years.

The post, addressed in part to reporters seeking comment, argued that real news would document the volume of crimes downtown that go unprosecuted so voters can hold elected officials accountable.

It itemized specific grievances: locked public restrooms pushing unhoused individuals into the alleys, roughly $3 million a year in city spending on unarmed security and cleaning crews that don't reach those alleys, cheap fentanyl driving retail theft severe enough to shutter stores and lock up basic goods, copper theft leaving property owners with five-figure repair bills, and graffiti that goes uncleaned.

The post also pointed to a 30% drop in downtown weekend revenue over the past decade and a string of shuttered restaurants, calling itself the last standalone survivor on Congress Street. Despite asking for help "hundreds of times," it said, the city took away its street patio, won't provide security, and lets nearby food trucks skirt the rules. Empire's post targeted both the city and the Downtown Tucson Partnership.

The response to Empire's Tuesday post was mixed, drawing more than 2,500 comments, with many saying the restaurant was using a tragedy to air a list of unrelated grievances targeting vulnerable populations.

In a series of follow-up posts Wednesday, Empire doubled-down on their complaints, accusing local media of failing to scrutinize the city's spending on downtown security and cleaning, the locked restrooms at the Ronstadt Transit Center, and the mayor's quick pivot to gun control, while also asserting the shooter was a "prohibited possessor" who was under the influence and given four years' probation after previously firing a rifle at another person.

Contrary to that claim, local outlets, including Tucson Spotlight, have covered many of the issues Empire raised. Tucson Spotlight has reported on the city's homelessness strategy and the Safe City Initiative, as has the Arizona Daily Star.

Arizona Luminaria has reported on Ronstadt Transit Center's restroom hours and the city's transit ambassador program, and KGUN has covered violent crime and safety concerns around Ronstadt.

The posts generated significant attention, spawning multiple Reddit threads where reaction to Empire's stance was mixed.

Downtown Tucson Partnership did not say when any of its own proposed measures, including expanded cameras or lighting changes, might take effect, or how they would be funded.

Caitlin Schmidt is editor and publisher of Tucson Spotlight. Contact her at caitlin@tucsonspotlight.org.

Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation.