A shooting outside a River North nightclub left one man dead and three others injured early Sunday, Chicago police said. Police have detained one person and recovered two firearms, Dep. Chief Sean Loughran said during an overnight press conference.
Witnesses reported that a large group began fighting in the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue around 2:10 a.m. after being ejected from a nightclub.
Two people pulled out guns and began firing, according to CPD. Police officers at the scene said a security guard from a nearby business returned fire.
Nearby, a group of people was sitting in a hired SUV at the time of the shooting. Initial information from the scene says that one of these passengers got out of the car, grabbed a gun from the crime scene, and then went back to the Cadillac Escalade. He then told the driver to drive away.
Police found the Escalade in an alley in the 800 block of North Orleans. A Snapchat video showed it surrounded by crime scene tape.
Two victims were transported by ambulance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The 30-year-old man seen lying in the middle of Chicago Avenue died from a gunshot wound to his chest. He was identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as Arsen Solaqa.
The other man, 24, was shot in the arm. Loughran said he is the security guard who fired shots.
Two more victims transported themselves to Northwestern: a 30-year-old man who was shot in the shoulder and a 24-year-old woman who was shot in the leg. They are both in good condition, according to a CPD media statement.
This morning’s victims are the 52nd, 53rd, 54th, and 55th persons shot on the Near North Side this year. So far this year, 31 people have been shot in the River North neighborhood, up from 15 last year.
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