The city has shuttered a Lincoln Park bar that officials linked to the fatal shooting of a man in the neighborhood on Sunday night, according to the local alderman. The Dime, 2263 North Lincoln Avenue, was closed Tuesday morning under a summary closure order signed by Chicago Police Interim Supt. Fred Waller, Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd) announced Tuesday afternoon.
“This is not the same as permanently revoking the Dime’s liquor license,” Knudsen said. “That is a separate, longer process through BACP and the Local Liquor Control Commissioner.”
According to witnesses, a fight spilled out of The Dime around 11:40 p.m. Sunday, and some of those involved ended up in an armed standoff on a nearby sidewalk. The confrontation ended when two gunmen shot and killed a 30-year-old man, Malik McCorkle, police said.
Surveillance video obtained by WGN-TV shows three men with firearms on the sidewalk, including one man, apparently McCorkle, wearing a white shirt. The footage shows two armed men standing side by side, facing McCorkle several feet away. One of the two men fires a shot, the video shows, followed by the second man. Both shooters fled the scene before officers arrived, according to police. One of them, a concealed carry holder, returned about 45 minutes later and surrendered to police. Charges were pending as of Monday evening, police said.
Knudsen said city officials had confirmed the homicide occurred after a fight broke out among people who had attended a party at The Dime. He said his office had pushed the city to address concerns about the bar’s operation before the shooting, citing what he described as several years of safety incidents there.
A summary closure allows the police superintendent to shut down a business immediately, without a hearing, once CPD determines it poses a “public safety threat,” meaning officials have connected a violent crime directly to the establishment. The closure can last up to six months. The Dime could reopen sooner if it negotiates an abatement plan with the city covering security staffing, cameras and earlier closing hours, and demonstrates the danger has been addressed, the alderman said. Without such a plan, the bar will not be allowed to reopen, according to Knudsen’s office.
“This action reflects how serious and well documented the pattern of a risk of violence has become at this location,” Knudsen said.
The alderman also credited several Lincoln Avenue businesses with providing footage to help with CPD’s investigation, including Brando’s, King of Cups, Soloway, Mary Jo McGuires and Halligan Bar.
“This homicide should have never occurred, and I send my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the victim,” Knudsen said.
Earlier this week, Knudsen said his office had been leading an “aggressive push” for restrictions on late-night bars along that stretch of Lincoln Avenue since another shooting on June 7 left a 39-year-old woman critically injured just steps from Sunday’s shooting scene.
CWB Chicago reported Tuesday morning that Chicago’s 911 center received multiple calls in the nearly 40 minutes before the shooting reporting suspicious activity, a fight and, at one point, a man with a gun. But according to the outlet, the local police district was in a dispatch backlog for nearly two hours, meaning no patrol units were available to respond, and the calls did not generate a police response until after the shooting had already occurred.
Radio traffic reviewed by CWB Chicago shows dispatchers in the Near North (18th) District had been in backlog status, officially known as Radio Assignment Pending, since at least 10 p.m. Sunday. Such backlogs are not uncommon at any time of day but tend to occur more frequently during shift changes, one of which was underway as calls stacked up ahead of the shooting. The district’s staffing has also declined in recent months, falling from 387 officers to 324 in June, a 16% drop, according to the Chicago Office of Inspector General.
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