Four people died and 14 others were injured late Wednesday night when shots were fired into a crowd outside a lounge in downtown Chicago, the police said.
Gun violence has been declining recently in the city, and public safety officials were gearing up for a busy holiday weekend. The Fourth of July is often tarnished by gun violence in Chicago, and city leaders were already planning to hold a news conference on Thursday to discuss their weekend safety plans, even before the latest killings.
The Chicago police said an unknown number of shooters opened fire at around 11 p.m. from a dark-colored vehicle as it drove along Chicago Avenue in the city’s River North neighborhood, about a mile from Lake Michigan near the northern edge of downtown. Social media posts suggested that a local rapper, Mello Buckzz, was hosting a private event at the lounge Wednesday evening to celebrate her release of a new album.
Mello Buckzz posted on her Instagram early Thursday, saying that her boyfriend and other friends were among the victims of the shooting. “My heart hurt so bad,” she wrote, adding a crying emoji.
The police said that those killed in the shooting were two men, ages 24 and 25, and two women, ages 26 and 27. Eleven women and three men, ranging in age from 21 to 32, were injured, the police said. Three of the women were in critical condition. None of the names of victims were released as of Thursday morning, and no arrests had been announced.
Many nights in Chicago are marred by multiple shootings, and police records show that late Wednesday and early Thursday were no exception. Shortly before the drive-by on Chicago Avenue, a man’s head was grazed by a bullet in another part of town. Not long after midnight, two people were wounded and one woman was killed in two more shootings. And around 3:15 a.m., four people were shot and injured, two of them critically, in a neighborhood on the city’s Far South Side.
Chicago, the country’s third-largest city, has long struggled with gun violence, and it continues to average more than one homicide a day. Still, the figures have fallen sharply this year. Through last week, there had been 187 criminal homicides in the city, according to police data, down 32 percent from the same period in 2024 and down 46 percent from four years ago. There had been 664 shooting incidents in the city in 2025 through last week, which is down nearly 40 percent from last year.
“We are dramatically bringing down violent crime in Chicago by solving and clearing more cases,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a social media post on Wednesday, before the latest shootings.
The downtown shooting took place on the edge of a tourist-friendly neighborhood known for nightlife, hotels and restaurants. Many storefronts in the area have lain vacant since the Covid-19 pandemic, including a large former Walgreens store near where the shooting happened.
By 7 a.m. Thursday, there was no longer a visible police presence at the shooting scene. Commuters arrived at a nearby ‘L’ stop or grabbed a coffee at the Starbucks down the block. Employees at a Dunkin’ store swept up shattered glass inside their business. Television camera crews blocked part of the sidewalk.
The lounge near the shooting had a “BYOB,” or bring your own beverage, sign in its window, as well as a city notice from May indicating indicated it was seeking a liquor license.
That business, Artis Restaurant and Lounge, said on its Instagram page on Thursday that it was working with the authorities.
“Artis was created as a safe space,” the message said, noting that the business was intended to welcome L.G.B.T.Q. patrons. “Our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones.”
The violence was a tragic start to a weekend when the city hoped to welcome tourists and show off its central business district. A fireworks show is planned at Navy Pier on Saturday night, and thousands of visitors are expected to attend NASCAR races Saturday and Sunday being run on city streets in a different part of downtown Chicago.
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
Julie Bosman is the Chicago bureau chief for The Times, writing and reporting stories from around the Midwest.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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