CHICAGO — The city has forced a troubled hookah lounge to close after three people were shot outside the business on Friday. It was the second shooting at the venue, which lies on the border of West Town and Wicker Park, in 18 months.
Sunday afternoon, plywood covered the front door and a window that were shot out at Lyon’s Den, 2123 West Division. Bright orange “summary closure” notices were slapped on the board-up and a front window that remained intact after the shooting.
On Friday afternoon, Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) stated that he shared community “anger” about the shooting and claimed he “immediately” demanded a summary closure of the business.
“It is deeply disturbing, particularly after the violence at this business in early 2023 and the year long community meetings process that many 1st Ward residents participated in to change their Plan of Operations,” La Spata said on Twitter.
Police said a gunman in a black sedan opened fire on a group of people standing on the sidewalk outside the lounge at 1:27 a.m. Friday. But a witness told CWBChicago that they saw a second gunman shoot from a nearby corner. Based on what they saw, the witness believed it was an “ambush-style shooting.” Officials now say a fight inside Lyon’s Den preceded the shootings.
Investigators marked more than 20 shell casings in three locations on the block. Three men, ages 23, 32, and 45, were in good condition after being shot.
Early on January 1, 2023, a shootout near the Lyon’s Den entrance left one of the club’s security officers dead and another person injured.
Shortly after the shooting, police said a man tried to enter Lyon’s Den while brandishing a handgun around 1:30 a.m. and then exchanged gunfire with the victims. Austin McAllister, a 38-year-old father of six working as a bouncer at the Lyon’s Den, died. The other victim, a 26-year-old man, suffered a gunshot wound to his left calf and survived. Family members said McAllister was the father of six and a military veteran.
“He got hurt in Iraq to come home to Chicago and be killed because he turned a patron away from the hookah lounge? He wasn’t out there partying. He wasn’t drinking. He was out there working for his kids and for himself,” McAllister’s sister told ABC7 after the shooting.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) called for the city to shutter Lyon’s Den after the 2023 shooting, but then-CPD Supt. David Brown declined to take action. The club agreed in March 2023 to beef up security and limit BYOB alcohol consumption.
Nearly two months after the shooting, CPD announced that they were looking for a 31-year-old parolee named Jimmy Chamberlain in connection with the shooting. He had been on parole for exactly three years after serving half of a 21-year sentence for armed home invasion.
Authorities caught up with Chamberlain last summer. He is currently jailed while awaiting trial on 12 felony charges, including eight counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder.
