The 19-year-old gunned down outside the Empire Club in Hollywood two weekends ago in violence caught on tape had been inside the venue despite its 21-and-older policy, police tell the Weekly.

Both the victim, Andre Lowe, and the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Robert Earl Thomas, are believed to have been inside the club before violence erupted outside Jan. 13 after 2 a.m., detectives said.

According to the LAPD …

… it's not clear if Lowe had been drinking.

But a detective told us, in terms of his age and the club's 21-and-up door rule, “you do the math.”

We understand the club does card patrons and puts them through a security check that includes a wand.

Credit: Courtesy Lowe family.

Credit: Courtesy Lowe family.

Despite the initial reports from police that fighting inside the club had spilled outside, detectives now say that there was no fighting inside the venue that they know of.

Rather, they say, there was “tension” and “beef” inside that exploded outside. A detective told us:

What happened inside precipitated what happened outside.

Thomas, who police say is a Carver Park Compton Crips member, was arrested in Las Vegas a week ago in connection with the shooting and was awaiting extradition.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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