Authorities are investigating a drive-by shooting that left four people dead and 14 others hospitalized.
According to NBC Chicago, the incident occurred around 11 p.m. Wednesday outside Artis Restaurant and Lounge, a River North venue where local rapper Mello Buckzz was hosting an album release party. Police said a dark-colored vehicle drove by the nightclub before someone from inside the car opened fire into the crowd gathered outside. The perpetrator[s] reportedly fled the scene before police arrived.
Police said all victims were in their 20s and 30s. Those who succumbed to their injuries included a 24-year-old man who was shot in the chest and a 25-year-old man who sustained a gunshot wound to the head. Two women, 26 and 27, were also pronounced dead after being shot in the chest.
Fourteen people were hospitalized following the shooting. Three of those victims are said to be in critical condition, two in serious condition, and eight in stable condition. Eleven of those patients are women.
Sources told NBC Chicago that Mello Buckzz’s boyfriend and best friend were among those who were killed. The rapper seemingly confirmed this in a series of Thursday Instagram Stories.
“We was having so much fun in our private little life, couldn’t leave each other alone glued to my hip everyday,” Mello Buckzz wrote. “It’s not a night we ain’t spend together. I’m so fucking angry. U was woke I held yo hand until I couldn’t. U talked to me. Clearly ion get it boo, I’m fucked up.”
“My heart broke into so many pieces rn it’s unbelievable,” she wrote in a subsequent post. “Why is this happening to me?”
“Prayers up for all my sisters, God please wrap yo arms around every last one of them,” Mello Buckzz continued. “We need yo, I need you … I’m f$#!ed up [sic] … all I can do is talk to God and pray.”
As of press time, police had not taken any suspects into custody.
