For the second time in less than a week, shots were fired Monday afternoon across from a West Side funeral home where the Chicago Fire TV series has been filming. Unlike last week, no cast members were on set during Monday’s incident, a source said. And, also unlike last week, the bullets hit someone this time.
A Chicago police officer assigned to secure the movie set outside A.A. Rayner and Son’s Funeral Home, 5911 West Madison, radioed “shots fired at the Chicago Fire production scene” at 3:28 p.m. Monday. Officers found two bullet-riddled cars directly across the street from the funeral home on Madison Street.
Another vehicle sped away from the scene, carrying the victim inside. A 40-year-old man inside the car was in critical condition at Loyola Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, according to Chicago police.
Back at the shooting scene, cops found nine shell casings in the street outside of 5920 West Madison. No arrests have been made.
According to a film industry source, Chicago Fire was supposed to return to the funeral home for production on Monday, but the decision was made not to due to last week’s incident. According to the source, crew members went to the funeral home on Monday to remove equipment used to make buildings appear to be on fire for the TV show.
Last Wednesday, a gunman opened fire kitty-corner from where the hit NBC show was filming. No injuries were reported that time, but a film industry source said the “full cast” was on-scene, and three cameras were rolling when the gunfire broke out around 1:55 p.m.
A CPD spokesperson confirmed that a man “shot at a group of people standing in the 5900 block of West Madison” and fled in a dark SUV.
“It happened mid-take,” a film industry source said. “No one was injured on set, but a bullet did ricochet off some equipment.”
The Chicago Police Department had at least six marked cars on the scene for security, according to the source, but “it happened right in front of them all.”
Chicago’s production industry has endured a series of safety concerns this year.
Earlier in the summer, bullets from a rolling gun battle flew into the Cinespace Chicago Film Studios on the West Side and damaged trailers used by the Chicago Med television series. No injuries were reported, and police did not believe the show or the studio were the intended targets.
In the South Loop last month, a man reportedly lit an object and threw it toward the set where Justified was filming. Police said the “object did not explode and no injuries were reported.”
Days later, top Chicago police executives ordered several neighborhood patrol districts to send some of their cars to secure movie sets across the city, CWBChicago reported.
At the time, a CPD source said the district resources were being diverted mainly because the production companies had been unable to find enough off-duty cops to handle the work.
The city requires “police supervision” for some filming activities. That supervision usually comes through a city program that lets studios hire uniformed cops on their days off. But, the source said, fewer cops are volunteering, putting productions in a bind.
Area Four detectives are investigating Wednesday’s incident, police said.
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