A mass shooting that started with a brawl among a group of teens has left two people dead and eight wounded late Thursday, blocks from the Magnificent Mile, according to Chicago police, who say they have one person in custody.
An additional victim had suffered burns, possibly from being injured on the nearby CTA Red Line subway, according to a witness and a Chicago Fire Dept. spokesman.
The shooting happened about 10:40 p.m. in the 800 block of North State Street outside the Chicago Avenue subway station and a McDonald’s at 10 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago police said in a media notification.
As of early Friday, police have arrested one person and recovered a gun from the scene of the attack. The dead have not been identified yet and police released no further details about the victims.
In a statement, Lightfoot decried the “outrageous act of violence” and promised to put more police officers in the area, including a fixed post at the intersection and another at the Red Line station.
“Area residents, commuters, and others simply must have the peace of mind that this highly trafficked area is safe, and it is time for more specific, concrete steps to be taken to address this area once and for all,” Lightfoot said.
The police department “is hard at work to make sure those responsible for last night’s incident are held accountable, for the safety and well-being of us all,” Lightfoot said.
Paramedics responded and took five gunshot victims and one burn victim to area hospitals, said Chief Juan Hernandez, a spokesperson with the fire department.
One victim was in “grave” condition and the other gunshot victims were all in serious to critical condition, Hernandez said.
They were taken to Illinois Masonic, Stroger, and Northwestern Memorial hospitals, Hernandez said.
A Red Line train traveling through the area was stopped between stations while authorities searched for a weapon in the subway’s rails, Hernandez said, adding the department evacuated the CTA passengers at about 11:30 p.m.
Shortly before then, responders were seen removing people — at least two who appeared to be badly injured — from an area between the McDonald’s and the subway entrance on the northeast corner of State Street and Chicago Avenue.
Amid the chaos of the shooting’s aftermath, a woman yelled at officer standing near the station entrance, “What hospital? My brother got shot!”
As paramedics and officers worked the scene a fight erupted between two people across the street. Shortly after 11:15 p.m. a group crossed a line of police tape and argued with a officers before they were pushed back.
Two women were among those taken away on stretchers. One was sitting up and silent as paramedics lifted her into an ambulance.
Deonna Jackson, 18, had come downtown to hang out with her friends.
“I was getting off the train and I spotted a group of teens fighting,” Jackson said. “The teens started rushing towards me and they’re all attacking one person — they were jumping someone.”
”I’m kind of used to that happening right here but I just don’t involve myself.”
Jackson separated herself from the tussle and “made it to the corner.”
That’s when a girl approached her, asked what was happening and then asked Jackson for her help, explaining that she was trying to find her friend who may have been involved in the fight.
But then someone in a white car pulled up to them and she “found her people,” said Jackson, who began making her way to the 7-Eleven across the street.
“All of a sudden shots went off,” Jackson said. “I flew inside of the store (7-Eleven).”
When the hail of gunfire halted, she ran outside to try and help the victims. “I was scared,” Jackson said.
“I ran toward the people who were lying on the street,” Jackson said. “They (victims) were on the sidewalk in front of the McDonald’s.”
Jackson said at least one person shot appeared to be man in his 20s while many others were likely people in their teens. Jackson recognized another victim as a possibly homeless woman about 60, who regularly asks for change at that corner.
A woman who suffered burns was possibly injured from the CTA’s third rail, according to Jackson, who said she saw the woman, partially clothed, coming out of the station, with injuries to her back.
Jackson finally made it home about 2:30 a.m. but didn’t take the CTA, as service was still down in that area.
“My head is actually spinning right now,” Jackson said in a text message.
No suspects were in custody, Chicago Police spokesman Tom Ahern said in a Tweet just after 11 p.m.
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