At least 50 shots were fired during a gunfight that left a man injured on a River North street early Sunday, according to police and witnesses. No one is in custody.
The shootout unfolded near the intersection of State and Erie streets at 3:42 a.m., according to nearby residents who spoke with CWBChicago.
Officially, police said a 32-year-old man was on a sidewalk in the 600 block of North State when another man walked up, fired shots, and fled in a gray SUV. The victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg, according to a CPD statement that cited preliminary information.
But officers on the scene, graveyard shift workers, and residents described a wild shooting scene that left about 50 shell casings from at least two different guns on State Street and around the corner on West Ontario Street. Two windows sported bullet holes at the 7-Eleven, 635 North State. A car parked outside the store was also shot up. According to a witness, the victim got out of that car and then walked around the corner where he was shot on Ontario street. Police have not confirmed that account.
Area Three detectives are investigating.
An hour after the shooting, witnesses called 911 after seeing a woman drop a handgun in the lobby of the Embassy Suites hotel, 600 North State. According to a witness, a man who was with the woman picked the gun up off the floor and walked out of the hotel with her before police arrived.
CWBChicago reported Saturday that police have seized an average of one illegal firearm per day on and near the Magnificent Mile during December.