Latest news with #ArtisRestaurant
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘This wasn't some random shooting': Police dig in after drive-by attack at River North album release party kills 4, wounds 14 others
Late Wednesday night, assailants armed with at least one rifle rolled up outside an album release party for a local drill rapper in River North and opened fire on a crowd gathered on the sidewalk. Within a matter of seconds, police Superintendent Larry Snelling said, the attackers were able to shoot an astonishing 18 people, killing four in a spot close to the center of the city as Chicago is preparing for the holiday weekend and playing host to a high-profile NASCAR road race. The shooting was among the city's worst in recent years and served as a warning that even though violent crime has fallen in recent years, gun violence — especially that fueled by rivalries on Chicago's splintered gang landscape — remains stubbornly persistent. 'Shootings like these are a tragic reminder of how far we still have to go as a city,' Mayor Brandon Johnson said during a news conference on Thursday, calling the incident a cowardly 'act of hate.' City and state officials decried the mass shooting while calling it an isolated incident and asking citizens to send in information to investigators. Family members of those killed spoke out against further violence, saying that retribution won't bring back their loved ones. 'I don't want another death,' said Andrea Williamson, whose son Devonte was killed and leaves behind a 3-year-old daughter. 'That's not going to bring my son back. I want the people who did it to get caught.' Patrons were hit outside the Artis Restaurant and Lounge, which had been rented out for a private event, police said. Local rapper Mello Buckzz, whose name is Melanie Doyle, according to court records, had planned the party, according to social media. Messages to Doyle and her attorney were not immediately returned. For the past 15 years, Chicago's drill rap scene has often been linked to fatal gun violence as rival artists with reputed gang ties trade insults and threats through their lyrics and social media taunts. Police officials did not offer a motive, citing the pending investigation, but said it was clear that the venue was targeted. 'This wasn't some random shooting where someone just decided that they were going to shoot at this particular group of people,' Snelling said. 'Obviously, there's a motive there.' Snelling — who said the business that held the party has been temporarily closed — during the Thursday news conference described a chaotic scene as officers arrived and began trying to help the injured. One of the weapons involved appeared to be a rifle, he said. Casings from a second weapon also were found. Johnson said officials 'will not rest' until the shooters are held accountable. The shooting took place outside the lounge at around 11 p.m., when a large group of people were on the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue. The medical examiner's office on Thursday identified the four dead as Leon Andrew Henry, 25, and Williamson, 23, Aviance King, 27, and Taylor Walker, 26. The rest of the victims, who ranged in age from 21 to 32, were in various conditions at area hospitals, police said. At least two were believed to be in critical condition. No one was in custody as of Thursday afternoon. Police said a dark vehicle drove past, fired into the crowd and drove away. The car circled the block and its occupants fired, apparently targeting a line of people standing outside Artis, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Garien Gatewood said none of the victims are residents of the River North neighborhood. Johnson, Snelling and Gatewood all credited the actions of the first responders to the scene, and the superintendent said Chicago Police Department detectives and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are working to gather evidence and analyze ballistics. Snelling added it wasn't clear how many shooters were present. In a post to Instagram Thursday, Mello Buckzz said one of the four people killed was her significant other. On her Facebook page — followed by 89,000 people — Mello Buckzz appears to claim affiliation with the NLMB, a gang faction with territory in the South Shore neighborhood that's been linked to several murders in recent years. Among the most high-profile NLMB associates is Chicago drill rapper G Herbo, who collaborated with Mello Buckzz in a song released in 2024. Members and associates of the NLMB — an acronym for 'No Limit Muskegon Boyz' and 'Never Leave My Brothers' — were previously linked to another quadruple murder in the South Shore in 2017 and another brazen daytime slaying in a South Loop barbershop in 2021. The group was also tied to a 2021 mass shooting at a rented retail store in the Ashburn neighborhood, according to police sources. Two gunmen opened fire on attendees of a birthday party, leaving one man dead and seven other people injured. Earlier this year, Doyle was sentenced to probation for allegedly attacking a woman over what her lawyer in court documents described as 'diss threats' from the complaining witness. Although court records listed Henry, one of the decedents, as an associate of both the NLMB and the Black P Stones, Henry's mother, Tiffany Harris, said her son 'wasn't one of them types of kids that are just shooting and robbing people.' Harris, 49, had 'never' been concerned for Henry's safety and didn't know of his plans to attend the album release party, she said. Then she got a phone call about the shooting. Williamson, who was also killed, had been dating Doyle for a short while before the shooting, said his mother, Andrea Williamson. She said she saw her son leave the house Wednesday night 'dressed up' but didn't know where he was going. The crime scene had been cleared from outside the establishment by Thursday morning as commuters made their way past the Chicago Brown and Purple Line stop. After the shooting, social media began filling up with accounts of people who said they had been at the party, including a woman who apparently was a DJ for the event. Using the name 'sukigeez' on Instagram, the woman said she had just left the building when the shooting broke out. 'My brother & I decided to go across the street to get some food & heard the gun shots and saw people running away from where I was just playing music,' the message said. 'Honestly it was a great night. No drama. A celebration. I was really happy for Mello.' The shooting rattled the surrounding neighborhood. Lizzie Zimmermann, a 28-year-old marketing consultant, was getting ready for bed in her 17th-floor apartment when she heard the distinct cracking of gunshots. 'It sounded like someone unloading a magazine. It was just a rapid, like, 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,'' Zimmermann said. 'It was silent for maybe 15, 30 seconds, and then I just heard a million sirens.' When she looked out her window, about two blocks east of the establishment, the entire street was flashing with police lights. She walked past the scene Thursday morning and saw trails of blood on the sidewalk. 'I was definitely worried. It was scary,' Zimmermann said. 'It wasn't even that late at night. I mean, anybody could still be on the street at 11 o'clock.' The 42nd Ward is subject to a late-hour liquor license moratorium, according to Ald. Brendan Reilly, and Artis had applied for an incidental liquor license along with a food license. That liquor license hadn't been approved yet, he said, so Artis had been operating under a BYOB policy. 'The city needs to take a very hard look at our BYOB policy and consider some significant changes to make those much, much harder to use,' he said. Reilly added that Artis had been given a draft plan of operation as it was working toward a liquor license, which prohibited the use of promoters that publicized parties like the one held Wednesday night, he said. Reilly said he and CPD officials had requested a summary closure for Artis, and said he would ask the liquor commissioner to reject the restaurant's liquor license and ensure that the business 'never opens again.' In response to Reilly's comments, the owners of Artis said in a statement to the Tribune: 'We are deeply saddened by this unforeseeable tragedy, and we are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation.' Johnson during the news conference said that the owners had 'demonstrated thoughtfulness around the business plan.' Artis was licensed to open in February 2025, according to records from the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. In a statement posted to social media, management said they were 'deeply' shaken by the shooting and offered condolences to the victims and their families. The lounge, which opened April 10, bills itself as a safe space for Black, Brown and queer people to 'gather, be celebrated and feel at home in River North.' 'What happened last night disrupted it in the most painful way,' the statement read. Another fatal shooting occurred at the same address in November 2022, when the property housed a nightclub, records show. That shooting left one man dead and three other people wounded. County court records show a man was charged with illegal gun possession in connection with the shooting, but no one was ever charged with murder. Wednesday's attack came as Chicago has seen significant dips in violent crime in recent years. It was one of the first mass shootings downtown with double-digit victims since 11 people were shot outside a McDonald's at Chicago and State Street in 2022. Two people were killed. Gov. JB Pritzker called the news of the shooting 'devastating' in a post on social media on Thursday. 'Even as we've seen crime diminishing, we still can and must do better to keep Illinoisans safe,' he said. Tribune reporters William Tong and Kate Armanini contributed to this report.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
4 Killed and 14 Injured in Mass Shooting Outside Chicago Nightclub After Artist's Album Release Party
Four people were killed and 14 were injured in a drive-by shooting in downtown Chicago The shooting occurred after an album release party for rapper Mello Buckzz Police have not yet arrested a suspectFour people were killed and another 14 were injured in a drive-by shooting outside a nightclub in downtown Chicago. The Wednesday, July 2, shooting was reported by CBS News Chicago, NBC Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times, all citing police. Police reportedly said a dark car pulled up outside Artis Restaurant and Lounge and at least one person opened fire on the crowd after rapper Mello Buckzz's album release party, according to CBS. Two men, aged 24 and 25, were fatally shot, as were a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old woman, CBS reported. Three of the victims were shot in the chest, while the 25-year-old was shot in the head. The vehicle fled the scene immediately after, according to the reports. The age range of the wounded victims spans from 21 years old to 32, according to the reports. Four women were listed in critical condition, the Sun-Times paper reported that the nightclub is the site of a former club that the city closed in 2022 following another fatal shooting. NBC reported that the city declared the former nightclub, Hush Chicago, a "public safety threat." No arrests have been made in connection with the drive-by shooting. 'It was a chaotic scene,' witness Roger Tanner told the Sun-Times. 'It was so many young people. I thought they were having fun.' Read the original article on People
The Independent
21 hours ago
- The Independent
‘Never seen anything quite like this': Chicago pastor shaken after visit to mass shooting scene where 4 were killed
For a Chicago pastor who has rushed to innumerable murder scenes over the past decade, showing up minutes later to comfort those impacted by senseless violence, what he saw on Wednesday night after a shooting outside a club hit him harder than he ever imagined. Pastor Donovan Price thought he had seen it all, and had visited other mass killing sites in the past. However, the scene outside the Artis Restaurant and Lounge in the city's River North neighborhood, following a record release party for local rapper Mello Buckzz, continues to haunt him, he said Thursday morning. 'I didn't expect that many people to be shot, police calling for six more ambulances, and everybody just going crazy, trying to find the people they were with, find their cell phones, find the keys to their cars, just madness,' Price told The Independent. 'And then, the amount of blood in the street. Stepping in blood, the mayhem, people laying in the street… I just really was overwhelmed by the number of people who were actually involved, and not bystanders – just, everybody had a stake in what had just happened.' As unsuspecting attendees streamed out of the club shortly after 11pm, a dark-colored SUV pulled up and a person – or persons – inside the vehicle started shooting into the crowd, leaving four dead and 14 wounded, according to cops. The SUV immediately fled, and no arrests have yet been made. Price arrived 20 to 25 minutes after the bullets began flying, he said. 'I work with homicides and shootings here in Chicago, I've been doing it since 2016, I had never seen anything quite like this,' he went on. 'And so it was a big shock.' Price said he immediately 'ran in and helped folks and did what I could,' assisting victims, helping family members find loved ones and trying to reassure traumatized witnesses. And while he was totally focused on the task at hand, Price said, 'it was still very taxing, more taxing than it had perhaps been before.' 'Afterwards, I went to three of the hospitals and there were a lot of people to calm down outside,' Price explained, voice breaking with emotion. 'Once it was over, I was able to just kind of take a breather, and it was very sad.' He found himself sobbing over what he had witnessed, Price said. In the aftermath, Price took to X to express what he was feeling. '2 hours ago my life changed,' Price posted at 3:01 a.m. 'pray for these… every time I try to talk tears run down my face,' he posted a half-hour later. 'just sitting in my car crying for some of the people I held tonight,' Price posted at 3:53 a.m. Of the 18 people shot, five were men and 13 were women, police said. All but two of the victims were between the ages of 21 and 32. A 24-year-old man and a 25-year-old man were among the four dead; two women were also killed, but no further details on them were provided by authorities. Mello Buckzz later posted on Instagram that her boyfriend and best friend had died in the shooting. 'Prayers up for all my sisters, God please wrap your arms around every last one of them,' Buckzz said in a subsequent statement. 'We need you, I need you…' As of early Thursday, three of the 14 people injured were listed in critical condition, nine were listed in good condition, one was listed in fair condition and one was listed in stable condition. By the numbers, shootings and homicides in Chicago have dropped sharply, with declines of 39 percent and 33 percent, respectively. At the same time, Price told The Independent that 'things seem more intense, the dynamic has changed.' As far as gun violence goes, Price said, 'There may always be a problem there. There has always been a problem.' 'I do know that many people are doing great work to battle this, and I hope they get the strength [to keep going] despite cuts in budgets and that type of thing, but all we can do is continue to [try],' Price went on. He said he hopes that 'we, as people, as a nation, as cities, as a world,' can recognize our individual roles in helping create a less violent existence for all. 'Maybe all you can do is sit in your chair and pray,' Price said. 'Make sure you do that. If you know young people out there, speak to them. Speak to the people you know, the people in your circle, and if the next person does the same thing, and the next person does the same thing, then the whole community will be safe.'
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
4 Killed and 14 Injured in Mass Shooting Outside Chicago Nightclub After Artist's Album Release Party
Four people were killed and 14 were injured in a drive-by shooting in downtown Chicago The shooting occurred after an album release party for rapper Mello Buckzz Police have not yet arrested a suspectFour people were killed and another 14 were injured in a drive-by shooting outside a nightclub in downtown Chicago. The Wednesday, July 2, shooting was reported by CBS News Chicago, NBC Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times, all citing police. Police reportedly said a dark car pulled up outside Artis Restaurant and Lounge and at least one person opened fire on the crowd after rapper Mello Buckzz's album release party, according to CBS. Two men, aged 24 and 25, were fatally shot, as were a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old woman, CBS reported. Three of the victims were shot in the chest, while the 25-year-old was shot in the head. The vehicle fled the scene immediately after, according to the reports. The age range of the wounded victims spans from 21 years old to 32, according to the reports. Four women were listed in critical condition, the Sun-Times paper reported that the nightclub is the site of a former club that the city closed in 2022 following another fatal shooting. NBC reported that the city declared the former nightclub, Hush Chicago, a "public safety threat." No arrests have been made in connection with the drive-by shooting. 'It was a chaotic scene,' witness Roger Tanner told the Sun-Times. 'It was so many young people. I thought they were having fun.' Read the original article on People
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Drive-by shooting kills 4 and wounds 14 others after a party at a Chicago restaurant
Officers work the scene of a shooting Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune via AP) CHICAGO — The upbeat mood in a busy Chicago neighborhood known for its restaurants and nightlife quickly turned into horror late Wednesday as shots were fired at a crowd from a fast-moving vehicle, killing four people. After the shots rang out, some people fell to the ground or screamed, witnesses said. 'I can only describe it as a war zone,' Chicago pastor Donovan Price, who responds to communities and people in crisis, told The Associated Press. 'Just mayhem and blood and screaming and confusion as people tried to find their friends and phones. It was a horrendous, tragic, dramatic scene.' Price said people in the crowd outside Artis Restaurant and Lounge in the city's River North neighborhood told him they had been at an album release party for a rapper. Videos on social media showed a red carpet outside and guests mingling and dancing inside. The Black and LGBTQ-owned Creole restaurant, which opened in April, posted on Instagram that it was created as a safe space 'where Black, Brown, Queer, and allied communities could gather, be celebrated, and feel at home in River North.' They said, 'what happened last night disrupted it in the most painful way.' Mello Buckzz, a rapper from Chicago's East Side whose fanbase is largely women, was performing at the restaurant for her album release party. She asked for prayers and expressed her anger and sadness on social media. 'My heart broke into so many pieces,' the artist said on Instagram hours after the shooting. Police said the driver immediately fled and that no one was in custody. Police said 13 women and five men ranging in age from 21 to 32 were shot, and that the dead included two men and two women. At least three were critically injured, police said Thursday. Those shot were taken to hospitals. Video showed people waiting and crying outside of hospitals. Other images showed multiple police and ambulances at the scene of the shooting. Price expressed sadness that the shooting took place outside of a local business aiming to make a difference in the community and just days after city-wide Pride month celebrations. 'Folks need places like that now,' Price said. 'It's a rough world.' The shooting took place days before the Fourth of July weekend, when Chicago and other major cities often see a surge in gun violence, despite overall decreases in gun violence in Chicago in recent years. Last year, over 100 people were shot, including at least 19 deaths, during the holiday weekend. Mayor Brandon Johnson said at the time that the violence 'has left our city in a state of grief.' By Laura Bargfeld And Christine Fernando. Associated Press reporter Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this story.
