CHICAGO — A man is recovering after being shot during an altercation in River North overnight. Chicago police said the victim is in good condition.
He was in the 500 block of North State Street when a group of men walked up, and someone in the group shot him around 2:21 a.m., according to a CPD media statement.
EMS took him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to his left thigh.
Some witnesses reported that the victim and another man were arguing before the shooting. One bystander said the gunman ran between two buildings on the 500 block of North State after the shooting. He was said to be Black, skinny, and wearing a blue shirt, acid-wash jeans, and a blue hat.
Shootings are down sharply on the Near North Side this year. In fact, this is the best year so far since at least 2019. Records maintained by CWBChicago show 17 people shot this year compared to 49 at this point in 2022. There were 22 on this date in 2021, 31 in 2020, and 24 in 2019.
For the River North neighborhood, Saturday’s victim is the 11th person shot this year. That’s down from 21 at this time last year. It’s even with 2021 and slightly higher than 2020, which had 9 as of August 5.
CWB’s records include individuals who unintentionally shoot themselves.
- Other recent shootings on the Near North Side:
A 29-year-old man bicyclist was shot in the 600 block of West Scott on July 16. An officer at the scene said “at least” 50 rounds were fired during that incident. - A 49-year-old man was shot and killed during an altercation with a woman outside a convenience store in the 600 block of North Dearborn on July 4.
- A man was shot and critically injured in the 300 block of West Ontario around 1:30 a.m. on July 1. Investigators found 20 shell casings and a bloody firearm in a surface parking lot on the corner of Franklin and Ontario streets. One car had several bullet holes in it.
- On June 17, dozens of shots were fired during a shocking daytime ambush that left a man critically injured just a block away from this morning’s shooting. Surveillance video showed the victim walking down the 300 block of West Erie as a group of men stepped out of a vehicle to ambush him around 6:30 p.m. The footage showed one of the gunmen chasing the victim down the street with a large firearm extended toward the victim. The area’s alderman linked that crime to a nearby club.
- An off-duty Michigan police officer accidentally shot himself and another person while handling his firearm inside their room at Hotel Chicago Downtown, 333 North Dearborn, on May 27. No charges were filed.
- On May 14, three people were shot in the Hubbard Street nightlife district. At the time, CPD said the victims were on the sidewalk near 6 West Hubbard when the occupants of two vehicles began shooting at each other, striking the bystanders. Officers at the scene said at least one gunman fired from a black tow truck that fled north on State Street after the shooting. A witness who spoke with CWBChicago said both gunmen were in tow trucks.