Two men were shot, one fatally, in the Loop overnight, making it the second double shooting in the downtown district since Monday.
Police responded to reports of shots fired and people shot near Lake and Wabash at 2:39 a.m. on Wednesday. Officers discovered the victims outside Harold Washington College at 30 East Wabash.
One victim, who remained unnamed as of mid-morning, was shot throughout the body and proclaimed dead, according to authorities. Officers retrieved a weapon from him. The other victim, 38, received a gunshot wound to the right leg and was sent to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition.
Officers found around 12 bullet casings at the location.
The motivation remains unknown. According to Chicago police records, the surviving victim has a history of gun offenses as well as heroin and marijuana sales in the Loop. He received probation two months ago for selling heroin on Lower Wacker Drive, just two blocks from where he was shot. Homeless encampments and open-air drug transactions have long plagued the neighborhood.
Witnesses reported seeing guys depart the scene on foot and heading north on Garland Court, an alley-like roadway that connects to Lower Wacker Drive east of Wabash. One was described as a Black male in a black sweatshirt with a white logo, black trousers, and black-and-white sneakers.
The shooting occurred two nights after two people were shot inside the 7-Eleven on 33 East Adams Street.
Around 9:32 p.m. on Monday, an armed guy entered the store and brandished a gun at a 26-year-old man. They wrestled briefly before the gunman opened fire, injuring the 26-year-old many times and a 23-year-old bystander in the foot, according to authorities. Both patients were transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition.
Officers discovered the older victim on the stairs of a neighboring CTA station, bleeding from several gunshot wounds. He was detained last year for allegedly selling marijuana outside the same 7-Eleven, and earlier this month for smoking on a CTA train in the Loop, according to police records.
Police found four bullet casings inside the business. Surveillance footage showed the gunman dressed in a black tank top and pants, with something concealing his head. He may have fled in a silver sedan, according to an officer.
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