A suspect is in custody after a 38-year-old man was shot and killed outside a Loop nightclub overnight, Chicago police said. He is the 10th person shot and the third murdered in the 400 block of South Wells this year.
The victim and a 24-year-old man were fighting when the younger man pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the chest around 1:36 a.m. Sunday, according to police. Officers detained the suspected gunman and found at least one firearm and three shell casings at the scene.
EMS took the victim to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later. The suspect was taken to Rush Hospital for minor injuries, police said.
Investigators were focusing their attention on a crime scene outside Per.so.na Nightclub, 408 South Wells.
Some Loop residents have blamed the nightclub’s patrons for recent shootings and other disturbances in the area. The business is listed as “closed permanently” on Google, and its website displays an “account expired” notice. But other online listings promote late-night events at the venue, describing the club as “newly reopened.”
On August 9, Rubén Franco, director of legislative affairs for Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) told residents in an email that the club had “voluntarily” closed following discussions with the local police commander in the wake of a recent shooting.
Franco stated that the club had severed ties with a promoter who held events at the bar.
“The owners will adapt their plan of operations and change the business model,” Franco said in the August 9 email.
The voluntary closure followed a triple-shooting that left two men dead in a parking lot at 430 South Clark, one block east of the club. But nine other people have been shot this year on the same block where the club is located:
- Five people were shot, two fatally, near a firehouse across the street from the club at 3:20 a.m. on July 1.
- Early on May 3, four people were shot at 499 South Wells.
Chicago police have not announced any charges in connection with the previous shootings.
Here are the number of people who were shot in the Loop as of October 9 during recent years, according to city records (2022 total includes one person shot by CPD):
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