On Saturday night, a large crowd of teens descended on Millennium Park garage, attempting to gain access to the Art Institute of Chicago in what was described as a “teen takeover.”
Police, fire, and emergency services, as well as a SWAT team, were all dispatched to the area.
The teens proceeded to jump on and damage a number of cars, including a police cruiser, with some video footage showing a vehicle being set alight. A man sitting in his car was also injured after being beaten by the crowd, and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Other footage showed teens dancing on the roof of a Chicago Transit Authority bus, and there were reports of bottles being thrown at buses. The chaos led to CTA services being disrupted, as well as posts on social media encouraging teens to fight in the Loop.
WFLD reported that a gunfight occurred near the crowds close to the corner of Madison and Michigan, which resulted in two teenagers being shot. They were taken to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and are in a fair condition.
A witness described the scene as “heartbreaking”, with kids fighting and chasing each other, some of them with guns. CBS News reported that “multiple teens” were arrested, all under the age of 18.
The Chicago Police Department released a statement saying they had sufficient resources in place to respond to incidents, and that this was the second night of a teen takeover in the city.
On Friday night, a 14-year-old boy was shot near crowds at the 31st Street Beach. In total, 29 people were shot, 6 of them fatally, in weekend violence across Chicago.