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Woman Shoots Gun on Busy Stretch of Halsted in Lincoln Park - VIDEO

By  Mina Bloom and Kelly Bauer | October 11, 2015 10:41am | Updated on October 12, 2015 8:34am

 This video shows a woman shooting a gun five times in Lincoln Park.
This video shows a woman shooting a gun five times in Lincoln Park.
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YouTube

CHICAGO — Witnesses helped to identify a woman who is accused of firing a gun multiple times in Lincoln Park early Saturday morning, police said.

Around 2:10 a.m., shots were fired near the 2600 block of North Halsted Street, near Wrightwood Avenue, according to witness reports and Chicago Police.

According to Crime in Wrigleyville and Boystown blog, which first wrote about the incident, 911 callers said that the fight began at the nearby Wild Hare nightclub.

A video emerged on YouTube Saturday night that shows a group of people arguing and shoving each other. There are about five gunshots over the course of the two minute and 30 second video, in which the group continues to fight on the sidewalk and shout at each other.

Police said they were able to arrest the shooter after she was identified by several witnesses, though officers did not recover the weapon that was used.

Jennifer Spegall, 32, of Broadview, Illinois, was charged with reckless conduct. She will appear in court on November 12.

Mina Bloom discusses the charges and neighborhood reaction:

Police said charges may be updated depending on discovery of additional information, and the investigation is continuing.

The Lincoln Park resident who posted the video to YouTube, who chose to go unnamed, said it wasn't the first time he has seen fighting on the street but that he had not heard gunshots in the area before.

"It didn't seem like she was firing at anyone in particular," he said. "After about two and a half minutes, my roommate pulled me aside and said, 'Get in the house.' Then I called 911 because I thought, why aren't the cops here yet?"

The YouTube poster, who moved to the city about a month ago from Texas, said he thought Lincoln Park was a nice neighborhood and he was surprised the police took so long to arrive. He saw officers find the woman who had fired the shots as she tried to get into a car and leave, then they spent about an hour searching for the weapon on the street.

"There were 20 to 30 people around, maybe 50 feet away from her, just looking on, and no one seemed really worried," he added. "It was kind of disconcerting."

He said he'd heard the Wild Hare reggae club had been opposed by neighbors who were worried the club might bring crime to the neighborhood. While he didn't expect to change his habits due to the shooting, he said he might get involved to "see if there's anything to be done about that bar."

He added his roommate said he might bring a gun to the apartment for their protection.

The shots were fired just a block from Ald. Michele Smith's (43rd) office. Reached Sunday morning, she said the proximity to her office was not her worry, but rather that it happened in her ward at all.

"It's an absolutely unacceptable incident," Smith said. "Gun violence is an outrageous affront on our citizens and everyone should fight back. The person — whatever was happening in that video — those people were out of control."

"We are going to pursue this with every means possible. I share everyone's feeling of outrage," she added.

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