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CHICAGO (CBS) — A memorial for a family member on Chicago’s Northwest Side ended with three people shot early Sunday morning at an event space that may not have been legally allowed to host that event.
R&R Events Venue, the local event space in the Old Irving Park neigbhorhood, has been shut down as police investigate after the event that was supposed to be a birthday party for a loved one who was killed last year turned into a shootout. The Chicago Department of Buildings has posted a sign saying “Do Not Enter” from now until further notice.
There was a huge police presence just after 1 a.m. when three people were shot.
“All we hear is shooting,” said a guest of the event. “Tables were pushed over, food was on the floor, like everything — purses, coats, everything — was left on the floor because people were feeling for their lives they were trying to get out.”
She asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
“Everything happened so fast we were having a good time you know dancing, everything and it was like an argument that broke out,” she said.
A 29-year-old man, a 30-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were all taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center and are expected to be OK.
“I saw people having conversations and I never expected it to turn around and be the way that it was,” the woman said.
CBS 2 looked into the city’s active business licenses and could not find any registration at all as a business or an event space for the venue, though the manager said the purpose of the space was clear with her landlord.
This is the second shooting at the possibly illegal event spacce in two months. The other fatal shooting was in December when a 19-year-old was killed and four others were wounded while at a party held inside what appears to be a computer store.
“I’ve never experienced anything or seen anything firsthand like what I saw this morning or last night,” the guest said.
Meanwhile police are still looking for whoever is responsible for the shooting.
CBS 2 reached out to Ald. Gardiner to see if he has any plans on policing illegal event spaces but has not heard back yet.
Source: ChicagoCBS
