Chicago police respond to reported shooting in the Loop, just blocks from Millennium Park Christmas tree
Chicago police responded to reports of shots fired and multiple people shot late Friday night near the Chicago Theatre in the Loop, just hours after the city lit the official Christmas tree at Millennium Park just blocks away.
Around 9:50 p.m., police responded to reports of a shooting near State and Randolph Streets. CBS News Chicago crews saw paramedics place at least three people in ambulances at the scene in front of the Walgreens store down the street from the Chicago Theatre.
Police could not immediately provide information on how many people were shot, or any victims’ conditions.
According to unconfirmed police dispatch reports, officers were following a group of young people in the Loop at the time the shooting happened.
It happened on an extremely busy night in the Loop, with huge crowds packing downtown for the Christmas tree lighting in Millennium Park and the first night of Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza.
Christkindlmarket had just closed for the night at 9 p.m.
Linda Dixon was with a group of people leaving the Chicago Theatre when they saw police rushing to the scene.
“We’re coming out of the theater, and everybody just start running. We almost got knocked in the street, because everyone was running that way from down here. I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Dixon said. “It is very disheartening to see this, you know? Holiday time, everybody wants to celebrate and enjoy the evening, and something like this happens.”
Two people who heard the gunfire ran inside the CBS News Chicago lobby at 22 W. Washington St. Those witnesses said they heard at least four shots.
“I just heard a ping, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is real,'” Moe Akl said. “One guy hit the floor, and then I’m like, ok, let’s go.”
It’s the second year in a row police have responded to a shooting in the Loop on the first weekend of the Christkindlmarket.
On Nov. 23, 2024, the second night of Christkindlmarket last year, a woman was wounded in a shooting outside the Macy’s department store on State Street.
Police said a 19-year-old woman was walking on the sidewalk near the intersection of State and Washington streets shortly before 9 p.m., when an unknown male fired shots.
The victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition.
That shooting also happened as large holiday crowds were gathered downtown for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and Parade on Michigan Avenue, as well as the first weekend of the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza, just one night after the lighting of the city’s official Christmas tree in Millennium Park.
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