Update May 2 — CPD has released new information about what happened. Read about it here.
Police are investigating after a gunman shot two victims in the Loop on Sunday afternoon. They are the fourth and fifth persons shot downtown this weekend. The men were shot while standing on Benton Place, a street that looks more like an alley, near the 100 block of North Wabash just before 5 p.m., according to police and witnesses.
CPD released few details except to say a 27-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the right hand and a bullet struck a 55-year-old man in the back of the head. Officers on the scene said a bullet passed entirely through the older man’s ear. He was listed in fair condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital while the younger victim was in good condition at the same hospital, police said.
Surveillance video showed three men running from the shooting scene. One of them changed clothes in the State-Lake Red Line station and then fled back onto the street, according to an officer who reviewed surveillance footage.
Police placed evidence markers next to at least six shell casings on Benton Place.
CPD did not release a description of the gunman, nor did they give a motive for the shooting.
The shooting prompted the cancellation of Sunday evening’s performance of Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Nederlander Theatre.
So far this year, five people have been shot in the Loop, including one who was shot by police after he allegedly opened fire on officers. There were also five shooting victims in the Loop at this point last year, but only three each in 2020 and 2019, according to records maintained by CWB Chicago.
It was a particularly violent weekend downtown, where police are investigating two shootings on the north side of the river that left two peole dead and a third injured:
- A man of unknown age was shot and killed in a guest floor hallway at the Senesta ES Suites hotel, 201 East Walton, around 5 a.m. Sunday. Police at the scene said more than a dozens shots were fired, a gun was recovered, and bullet holes lined the second-floor hall. Authorities have not identified the victim or given a motive.
- Tashawna Anderson, 26, was shot and killed on the 300 block of North State near Marina City at 1:05 a.m. Saturday. A 31-year-old woman with Anderson was also shot, but survived. Investigators believe a man who is known to both women is responsible for the shooting, according to a source.
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