THE LOOP — A fight at a tiny State Street park in the Loop spilled into the CTA's Jackson Red Line subway station Thursday evening, and one of the people involved shot a rider on the train, police and witnesses said.
The mayhem played out in daylight on one of Chicago's most famous streets with commuters and shoppers around. It also led to fights on State Street in front of reporters waiting for police to talk about the shooting.
The 24-year-old victim survived after taking bullets to his left arm and ankle, police said. He was taken to Northwestern Hospital, where his condition was not available but he was listed as "stable," police said.
The shooter got away.
It played out at 7:48 p.m. in the 200 block of South State Street. Chicago Police Department Deputy Chief Kevin Navarro said the victim was shot during a "targeted" incident, according to the Tribune.
The fight that led to the shooting began at Pritzker Park at State and Van Buren streets, according to a witness.
About 7:45 p.m., some 50 teens and young adults began fighting in the park across from the Harold Washington Library, said the witness, a 35-year-old Bridgeport woman.
"Someone yelled, 'Someone got knocked out! Someone got knocked out!'" she said, and she saw that an injured person on the ground. She called 911.
Then, about half of the group ran to the southwest Jackson CTA subway entrance, downstairs to the ticket-purchasing platform, said the witness, who followed the group. The teens and young adults jumped over the turnstyle and ran down to the train platform, she said.
The group continued to fight on the subway platform.
When a Red Line train pulled into the station, the group ran onto a train car. Before the doors closed, four or five gunshots rang out, she said.
The panicked witness, who asked not to be named, ran from the platform back to street level on State Street and hid with other witnesses in a store.
"We ran into the first store we saw open," she said. "People were crying, 'Someone is shot down there.'"
The woman, who takes the Red Line to the Loop several times during the week for school, said the Downtown shooting below busy State Street was "shocking."
"I was shaken. This is happening in the middle of Downtown and it wasn't even dark yet," she said.
The subway was closed after the shooting, according to the CTA. Trains to Howard were rerouted between Cermak and Fullerton, and 95th Street-bound trains were moving but bypassing Jackson.
Tribune photographer John J. Kim was on the scene waiting for a police briefing on the shooting when another fight erupted on State Street — despite the heavy police presence:
While waiting for a news briefing of a shooting in the subway...
— john j. kim (@jkimpictures) August 18, 2017
Chicago, 08/17/17
Oh, this town.. pic.twitter.com/g97lC9e8gV
001: Male shot in the foot and shoulder on a Red Line train at Jackson. Transported to NMH. #ChicagoScanner #CrimeIsDown pic.twitter.com/biTRWvg0RG
— Eric Tendian (@EricTendian) August 18, 2017
From the person shot on the Red Line #chicago pic.twitter.com/3NDVWDnXHn
— Eric Tendian (@EricTendian) August 18, 2017
There was just a shooting at the Jackson Red Line stop. Right in the Loop. I was on the train. We hit the floor when the shots rang. Out now
— Andrew Lapin (@AndrewLapin) August 18, 2017
— Lazlo (@RP_Cranky) August 18, 2017
