CHICAGO — Chicago’s first 80-degree weather of the year brought a violent weekend with five people killed and more than 30 others wounded.
According to some residents in River North, a quiet day turned into a chaotic night. The North Side neighborhood has recently experienced several shootings, with the latest occurring near an area nightclub on Saturday night.
Eslan Daoud was bartending around the corner when he said gunfire erupted.
“Everbody kind of ran into the street, it was closed off for dining, so it was a lot of commotion for about an hour,” Daoud told WGN News. “It was pretty chaotic.”
The shooting happened at about 10 p.m. Saturday near Hubbard and LaSalle as a large crowd waited to get into a nightclub.
Police say a man recognized someone from a previous incident and confronted him. Someone opened fire, with the victim suffering five gunshot wounds.
Paramedics rushed the shooting victim to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.
Saturday’s shooting was the latest in a string of incidents in the River North area.
Last Sunday, a man was shot during an attempted robbery at the Godfrey Hotel near Huron and LaSalle. In late February, two shootings happened hours apart outside the State and Grand Red Line Station. In one of those incidents, someone killed a 16-year-old boy when he was ambushed moments after stepping off the escalator.
“At night, it’s definitely sketchy,” says River North resident Barbara Graham.
Resident Ashley Moody agrees, saying that while she feels neighborhood crime has worsened, the day offers a different perspective.
“I do feel like it’s gotten worse, but most of the time, I don’t feel it,” she said. “Right now, it’s the middle of the day. Everyone is getting coffee, happy, walking their dog, so it’s hard to see the contrast.”
In Saturday’s case, police continue searching for a suspect.
