CHICAGO (CBS) — North Avenue Beach was closed Friday afternoon after shots were fired just hours after the beach opened to swimmers for the summer, prompting visitors to seek shelter.
CBS 2’s Asal Rezaei was on North Avenue Beach, reporting on the opening of the beaches along Chicago’s lakefront for Memorial Day weekend, when she and her photographer heard gunshots around 1 p.m. :30 p.m. summer season.
Around 100 people were nearby at the time and began to flee.
The officers had been on the beach all day, going through people’s bags and asked them to leave the beach around 1:45 p.m. while the police conducted a search. Both the beach and the adjacent bike path were closed.
Officers could be seen questioning a group of about a dozen people, and several people were handcuffed as police searched a nearby stack of couches.
Police said a group of youths got into a fight on the beach when someone pulled out a gun and started shooting.
A group of DePaul University students enjoying their day off were sitting about 200 feet away at the time.
“We were very close, actually. We were having fun, and then all of a sudden these people started fighting, and the police came out, and then we heard a shot, and we just ran to safety,” Claire Nelson said.
The window of a Chicago Park District truck was smashed. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but several people were taken to hospital to be treated for poisoning.
Acting CPD Superintendent Fred Waller was asked about the incident later Friday.
“The person who fired the gun was observed,” Waller said. “He was apprehended after a very, very short foot chase. Another subject was also observed in the same area fleeing with a weapon and was taken into custody. Two weapons were recovered from him ”.
It was not immediately clear when the beach would reopen.
The shooting came less than 24 hours after Mayor Brandon Johnson and other city leaders announced their Memorial Day weekend safety plan, which includes an increased police presence throughout the city, including the waterfront. from the lake.
It was thanks to the police deployment on the beaches that officers were able to quickly respond to the shooting on North Avenue Beach.
