At least eight people were shot after a group brawl led to a shooting in the River North neighbourhood in Chicago Sunday, leaving four of them in critical condition, according to local authorities, who have started an investigation.
Officials noted that the shooting took place near West Erie Street and North Orleans Street around 2:30 a.m. as a group of people got into a physical brawl.
The exact area is said to be near the Blum Restaurant and Bar only hours prior to the Chicago Marathon being set to commence.
“I heard a lot, definitely more than 10 sounds. And for me, it was more like fireworks. They were, like, nonstop,” a resident was quoted in a report by local media.
“I think it’s frightening,” said the resident, who was visiting Chicago.
Among the wounded, at least four of them were critically injured, including a male who sustained a gunshot in the head and a female who was shot in the stomach.
The age of the victims of the River North shooting ranges from 23 to 43 years old. All of them were taken to local hospitals.
No arrest has been conducted by police after the gun violence and the authorities have started an investigation.
According to some neighbourhood residents, the violence Is caused by the late-night nightclub, saying it’s not the first time there’ve been problems on the block.
“It brings in certain people that normally probably wouldn’t be in the neighbourhood, especially at certain times of the day, and that’s where the issue is,” one resident said.
On Sunday afternoon, the neighbourhood’s alderman, Brendan Reilly, who tried several times to close the bar, said he has asked the Chicago Police Department to issue a summary closure order to make sure the nightclub doesn’t reopen before the property can be sold.
Reilly told ABC7: “These late-hour nightclubs are a blight on River North, many catering to gangbangers, drug dealers and gun-toting patrons… How many more people need to get shot before the city steps up to the plate and starts shutting down these bad operators?”