Chicago police have shut down a River North nightclub a day after a mass shooting outside the establishment.
A summary closure order was issued Monday to Blüm Restaurant & Bar, 316 W. Erie St., according to Chicago police.
The order is the standard process used by Chicago police to shut down businesses they believe to be a “public safety threat,” as stated on the order.
After an order is issued, a business can request a probable cause hearing or nuisance abatement hearing — which can speed up the reopening process. Otherwise, the business could remain closed under the order for up to six months.
A group of people were fighting outside the River North bar about 2:40 a.m. Sunday when gunfire erupted, police said.
Five people were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with gunshot wounds. Two men were in critical condition. A 27-year-old woman, a 25-year-old man and a 27-year-old man were in good condition or stabilized at the hospital.
Three others who were also shot were taken to Stroger Hospital: a 23-year-old woman, a 43-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man, police said. The man and the older woman were in critical condition.
Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) sent out a community message Sunday calling on Chicago police to issue a summary closure order to the business to ensure it doesn’t open before the building is sold next month and Blüm is evicted.
Blüm is owned by So Clutch Group, which operates restaurants, bars and nightclubs in Texas. The So Clutch Group has not responded to request for comment.
One River North resident said he and his fiancee were woken up by 30 gunshots Sunday morning
“This is probably the second or third time that we have heard gunshots, so unfortunately we weren’t too panicked because we knew what was happening, and we are in a safe, guarded building,” Brendan Hill said.
Hill said he wasn’t surprised that the shooting happened outside the restaurant because it’s common for large crowds to gather there late at night or early in the morning.
Since the city’s summary closure ordinance was enacted in 2015, granting the police department the power to immediately close businesses associated with violence, most of the establishments shuttered have been in low-income neighborhoods on the South Side and the West Side, a 2022 Chicago Sun-Times investigation found — despite the surge of violence in downtown over recent years.
In 2021, when the location operated as Clutch Bar, a bouncer was shot after refusing to let someone in the bar. There was no summary closure order issued after that incident.
READ THE POLICE ORDER
Contributing: Mohammad Samra and Emmanuel Camarillo
