(CHICAGO) — Nine people were shot, two of whom died, in a chaotic scene outside a McDonald’s on Chicago’s Near North Side Thursday. Police said they have arrested a suspect.
A dispute broke out between two groups at approximately 10:41 p.m. eventually leading one individual to fire shots into the crowd, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters at a press conference Friday.
Police do not know what caused the fight, Brown said.
Officers pursued the suspect into a Chicago Transit Authority train stop and arrested a suspect as well as a person who Brown said obstructed the officers.
A woman fleeing in a group along with the alleged shooter came in contact with the third rail at the train stop and has been hospitalized, Brown said.
Police said surveillance footage showed that an individual had handed the shooter the gun, but they have not yet been able to identify that person, according to Brown. A gun was recovered from the scene, police said.
“If the person who did this doesn’t have a gun, this is just a personal conflict that may or may not lead to fights, [but] no one being killed,” Brown said.
Brown said police have installed two fixed posts of officers and a revolving post of officers in the area. The shooting took place in a crowded downtown area near Loyola University Chicago and the city’s so-called Magnificent Mile home to upscale shops and historic buildings.
Brown said there is an ongoing “gun crime crisis” in Chicago and across the country.
“Our officers have taken more guns that are illegally possessed off the streets of Chicago than we have in our history,” Brown said.
Police recovered 11,400 guns in 2020, and over 12,000 in 2021, both record-breaking years. Police are on pace to surpass last year’s record, Brown said.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the shooting “an outrageous act of violence.”
“It is simply awful, and unacceptable that once again another tragedy occurs because firearms are in the hands of people who simply do not care about themselves or the value of another’s life,” Lightfoot said in a statement.
She added, “Our 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.”
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