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| The shooting scene was centered near 424 West Goethe, where the injured man was found. | Google |
A chaotic shootout in the Old Town neighborhood has left a 21-year-old man in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Police said the victim was standing on the sidewalk in the 400 block of West Goethe when two offenders walked up and began shooting at 9:28 p.m. on Tuesday. The man suffered severe blood loss from a gunshot wound to his left thigh. Police officers were on the scene almost immediately and attempted to slow the man’s blood loss with a tourniquet.
Emotions ran high as residents from nearby apartment buildings spilled onto the streets. At one point, a police dispatcher asked all available units in the local police district to respond to the area of the shooting to help restore peace as fights broke out.
Windows were shot out in at least a half-dozen apartments across a block-square area. Every apartment with bullet-damaged windows was searched by officers to ensure that no residents had been struck by errant gunfire.
A significant number of shell casings, unspent ammunition, and even an abandoned handgun were found spread across three streets, leading police to conclude that more than one person was firing shots during the incident.
Officers who reviewed surveillance images said they believed a white Nissan Altima with tinted windows was used by the shooter. Area Central detectives are investigating.
