Authorities have identified the two men killed in a mass shooting near the Chicago Red Line station on Thursday evening. Meanwhile, two local aldermen railed against downtown’s continuing violent crime problem as a low-quality video of the shooting emerged online. Here’s the latest:
Officials said Antonio Wade, 30, and Anthony Allen, 31, died of gunshot wounds they suffered in the shooting near the northeast entrance to the Chicago Red Line station around 10:41 p.m. Police said seven other people, all adults except for a 17-year-old boy, were also shot.
Shortly after noon Friday, police and city inspectors forced an all-night McDonalds near the shooting scene to close, citing electrical issues. Some of the restaurant’s windows and glass doors were shattered by gunfire, but it continued to operate Friday morning until the city took action.
A low-quality video first posted to Facebook by ChitownCrimechasers appears to show the shooting unfold outside the Chicago Red Line station’s northeast entrance.
In the vide, which has since been removed from Facebook, a group is seen walking west on Chicago Avenue. A figure sneaks around to the street side of the CTA entrance canopy, seemingly aware of what is about to happen.
A second later, two people drop to the sidewalk while others scatter in all directions.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said the gunman fled into the CTA station. Officers arrested him and seized his weapon at track level, Brown said. Charges are pending.
The shooting scene lies on the border of two Chicago wards and both aldermen spoke out Friday.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) aimed his criticism at “foolish policies that have stripped away consequences to violent criminals for the damage they cause.”
“Incidents like this shake me and my residents to the core,” Hopkins wrote in an email to constituents. “Each time I hear from residents who are experiencing this stress and fear, it strengthens my resolve to fight back.”
“No neighborhood is immune to this criminal behavior,” he continued. “I will continue to fight for an increase in safety, security, and policing in and around the area. This lawlessness has to be stopped!”
Meanwhile, Ald. Brendan Reilly’s office said he is “extremely frustrated and disappointed with the ongoing violence in the 42nd Ward, which often occurs on or near a CTA Train station. In a recent meeting with Superintendent David Brown, the Alderman was promised that dedicated police details would be assigned to the Red Line and other CTA trains. This has yet to occur.”
Reilly also released a letter he wrote to Brown in the wake of Thursday’s shooting.
In it, Reilly asked for a “formal written response detailing immediate safety protocols that will be put into place to curb the continued violence in the Central Business District.”
He praised district-level police leadership, saying they “do an exemplary job with the resources they are given, but it is not enough. Crime has steadily increased in the last two years, leaving our entertainment and tourist corridors unprotected.”
Reilly also stood up for the McDonald’s operator, telling Brown that the city “[took] this incident out on an independent business franchise owner.”
“The shooting did not originate, nor did it take place inside McDonald’s,” he continued. “The shooting occurred after the business made the swift decision to close their doors to protect their employees due to lack of security on the Red Line.”
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Previous coverage
- Chaotic shooting leaves at least 2 dead, 8 more injured on Near North Side (May 20, 2022)
- New: Mass shooting near the Magnificent Mile followed reports of teens fighting, another shooting nearby (May 20, 2022)
- Top cop offers explanation of mass shooting near Mag Mile — but CPD radio transmissions offer a different tale (May 20, 2022)