River North bar shuttered days after deadly mass shooting over the weekend

A nightclub in River North was shut down by City Hall on Tuesday after a fight outside the bar over the weekend led to a shootout in which one man was killed and three people were wounded.

An order issued by police Supt. David Brown closed Hush Chicago, 311 W. Chicago Ave., deeming it a “public safety threat” following the mass shooting early Sunday.

The summary closure order named the club and owner Martini Bros Inc.

The quick action comes after the Chicago Sun-Times reported in September that most of the businesses closed by the city over violence concerns have been in low-income neighborhoods on the South Side and West Side. Despite surging violence downtown in recent years, only one business in the area had been shut down under the summary closure ordinance the Chicago City Council passed in 2015.

Officials have gone easy on clout-heavy bars and businesses, including those owned by Carmen Rossi, who runs a string of restaurants and clubs, holds the liquor license for Lollapalooza and is a political contributor to Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

Two of Rossi’s bars — Joy District and Liqrbox — weren’t closed after shootings outside them last year.

Martini Bros Inc. is run by Rossi’s colleague Vincent Lujan. Lujan is a silent partner in The Dime, one of the bars operated by 8 Hospitality, which is owned by Rossi, according to reports from the Illinois Liquor Control Commission earlier this year.

Lujan couldn’t be reached Tuesday.

Sunday’s shooting happened around 2:10 a.m. Security workers kicked out a group of people who then started fighting outside, police said. At least two people started shooting, and a security guard shot back.

Arsen Solaqa, 30, was struck in the chest and pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The guard, 30, was hit in the shoulder, police said. A man and a woman, both 24, were each struck in the leg. They were all treated at Northwestern Memorial.

Two weapons were recovered, and Jimmy Silva, 19, was arrested nearby after police say he grabbed a gun that was dropped by the wounded guard. Silva was charged with a weapons felony and ordered held in jail Monday on $20,000 bail.

No arrests have been announced in the gunfight.

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

The Near North police district where the shooting happened has seen a steep rise in crime this year. Through Sunday, 13 killings and 44 shootings have been reported, compared to eight murders and 42 shootings at the same point last year.