WEST LOOP — Four people were wounded in a drive-by shooting early Wednesday outside Alhambra Palace in the West Loop — and police will push to temporarily close the Randolph Street restaurant and venue, the area’s alderman said.
Early Wednesday, there was a fight at Alhambra Palace, 1240 W. Randolph St., said Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), who’d been in communication with 12th Police District Cmdr. Gabriella Shemash. Some people were escorted out the back door of the venue, and others were escorted out the front, Burnett said.
About 12:45 a.m., four people were shot outside the venue, police said.
“The ones that were escorted out the back were shot in the front,” Burnett said.
Someone riding in a black Jeep Cherokee shot out of the car toward the people in front of the venue, police said. Burnett said there was possibly three shooters.
A 41-year-old man and a woman in her early 20s were shot in their knee and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in fair condition. A man in his 30s was shot in his left leg and taken to Northwestern Hospital. Another man in his 30s was shot in his thigh and was in serious condition at Stroger Hospital, police said.
The driver of the Jeep was last seen traveling east on Randolph, police said.
No one is in custody and detectives are investigating.
Shemash will ask the police’s vice division to investigate to determine if there is cause for a summary closure — a temporary closure of a business that presents a public safety threat because of a violent offense that happened during operating hours or otherwise has a connection to the establishment — at Alhambra Palace, Burnett said.
“Were going to have to have a meeting with Alhambra Palace, myself and police,” Burnett said.
Burnett said he and Shemash have asked the Mayor’s Office for a special entertainment police detail in busy Fulton Market, an area crawling with tourists and people enjoying nights out at restaurant and bars.
They renewed their request Wednesday morning, the alderman said.
“The district is too big to not have special detail in that area,” Burnett said.
The shootings and carjackings in Chicago are “really getting out of hand,” Burnett said.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s becoming so common,” he said. “… I’ve never had to talk to my police commanders so much as I did this year.”