A brawl between teens set off a mass shooting in Chicago that left two people dead and seven others wounded, police said.
The shooting erupted at about 10:45 p.m. Thursday just blocks away from the Magnificent Mile and Loyola University’s Water Tower campus. One person was in custody, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters at a press conference.
A “personal conflict” sparked the shooting, according to Brown, who declined to provide the suspect’s name or age before charges were filed.
The lone gunman shot nine people in all, two fatally. He was arrested while he tried to flee the scene in the 800 block of North State Street into a nearby Red Line subway station, Brown said. A gun was also recovered.
It’s unclear what the fight was about, but Brown said it was another incident amid Chicago’s “gun crime crisis” and more senseless violence.
Investigators were still gathering evidence at the bloody scene early Friday.
“This is an ongoing crime scene that needs to be processed for evidence,” Brown told reporters.
Following the mass shooting, “fixed” police posts were created in the area, as well as a roving post and additional details in the nearby subway terminal, Brown said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a statement characterized the shooting as an “outrageous act of violence” while promising to put more cops on the street in the area, including a fixed post at the intersection where the shooting occurred.
“Area residents, commuters and others simply must have the peace of mind that this highly trafficked area is safe, and it is time for more specific, concrete steps to be taken to address this area once and for all,” Lightfoot said.
Five gunshot victims and one burn victim were taken to hospitals following the shooting, the Tribune reported, citing a fire department spokesman.
One victim was listed in “grave” condition, while the other gunshot victims were in serious or critical, the spokesman said.
The ensuing chaos following the shooting spilled onto the nearby Red Line subway as cops searched for a suspect and a gun, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
“When the fight first started, we were right next to them,” 18-year-old Deonna Jackson told the newspaper. “We had to run because I didn’t want anyone to swing on me.”
Shootings in downtown Chicago are up significantly this year, the Sun-Times reported — including a 225% jump in the district where Thursday’s gunfire erupted and 100% in the city’s 1st District, which includes parts of downtown and the Loop.
