2 killed, 7 wounded in downtown mass shooting among 14 shot across Chicago Thursday

At least 14 people were wounded in shootings across Chicago on Thursday, including two people who were killed and seven others wounded in a mass shooting downtown.

The shooting happened about 10:40 p.m. near Chicago Avenue and State Street, according to Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern.

Paramedics wheeled stretcher after stretcher under police tape. Two of the victims were pronounced dead, while seven wounded were taken to hospitals in serious-to-critical condition, with at least one of them undergoing surgery, fire officials said.

The chaotic scene quickly spilled onto the nearly Red Line as police searched for a suspect and a gun, stopping at least one train and evacuating passengers. CTA officials were stationed near the subway entrance as police combed the tracks.

At least one person was taken into custody and a weapon was recovered, Ahern said.

Police didn’t release additional details, but witnesses said the shooting stemmed from a fight outside the McDonald’s.

“When the fight first started, we were right next to them,” said Donna Jackson, 18. ”We had to run because I didn’t want anyone to swing on me.

“We were literally right there,” she said. ”The person that they jumped on, we were talking to the people he was with, which turned out to be some girls.

“We get to 7/11, we turn around and they just get to shooting, to shooting like crazy,” Jackson said.

Shootings have been spiking downtown all year. They are up 225% in the 18th District, which includes the McDonald’s. In the 1st District which covers parts of downtown and the Loop, shootings are up 100%.

Hours earlier, a boy, 17, was fatally shot in West Pullman on the city’s Far South Side.

About 3:40 p.m., Cortez Barber suffered a gunshot wound to his body in the 11700 block of South Wentworth Avenue and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Police said the boy was in a vehicle when he was shot but further details on the circumstances of the shooting were not released.

About 10 minutes earlier, a 63-year-old man was in a car in the 300 block of West Garfield Boulevard when he was shot in the face, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, officials said.

A man in a wheelchair was shot and critically wounded in West Garfield Park.

The man, 32, was sitting in his wheelchair in the 4000 block of West Adams Street about 9:15 p.m. when he was shot in the torso, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, officials said.

At least three others were wounded in shootings across Chicago Thursday.

Two people were killed and two others were wounded in citywide shootings Wednesday.