River North bar forced to close after video captures mass shooting outside establishment
CHICAGO - At least 8 people were wounded in an exchange of gunfire in River North Sunday morning, according to Chicago police.
Chicago fire officials initially found three people shot when they responded to West Erie and North Franklin streets around 2:40 a.m.
Police say a group of people were fighting outside Blum Restaurant & Bar in the 300 block of West Erie Street when the shooting began.
"My fiancé and I woke up to 30 gunshots or so," said River North resident Brendan Hill.
Surveillance video from a nearby restaurant shows the gunman walk up and unload at least ten bullets into a crowd. The shooter then walks away.
Hill said when he and his fiancé have kids they’ll be moving out to the suburbs.
"We don’t want our kids to have exposure to things like this," said Hill.
The victims that have been identified range in age from 23 to 43. At least four victims are in critical condition.
Three victims were transported to Stroger Hospital. A 43-year-old woman was shot in the abdomen and is in critical condition. A 32-year-old man is in critical condition with gunshot wounds throughout the body. A 23-year-old woman is in good condition with a gunshot wound to the foot.
Five victims were taken to Northwestern Memorial in the following conditions:
- An unidentified man is listed in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head.
- An adult male sustained a gunshot wound to his abdomen and is listed in critical condition.
- A 27-year-old woman sustained a gunshot wound to her foot; she was listed in good condition.
- A 25-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to his groin; he is listed in good condition.
- A 27-year-old man was shot throughout the body and is listed in stable condition.
This isn't the first shooting that has occurred near Blum Restaurant & Bar, which used to be called Clutch.
Two years ago a bouncer was shot there after refusing to let someone inside. In June, a 27-year-old man was shot in the head near the club.
Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly released a statement that read, in part:
"Because the city has failed to close this bar, my office has been working to facilitate the sale of the building to have Blum shut down and evicted. In fact, the property is currently under contract to be sold next month".
Reilly said he has called on the Department of Business Affairs and the Liquor Commissioner to shut the establishment down after receiving multiple complaints about the bar from neighbors.
On Monday, Chicago's top cop determined that Blum was a public safety threat due to the shooting and ordered that the business close.
Since the city’s summary closure ordinance was enacted in 2015, granting the police department the power to immediately close businesses associated with violence, the majority of the establishments shuttered have in low-income neighborhoods on the South Side and the West Side, a 2022 Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found — despite the surge of violence in downtown over recent years.
No one is in custody in connection to the shooting. Police are investigating.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.