Sound-Bar shut down after shooting left employee dead, another man hurt

Chicago police temporarily shuttered Sound-Bar Tuesday after the popular River North nightclub was deemed a public safety threat following a shooting early Friday morning that left an employee dead and another man wounded.

CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that owners were working with police and city leaders “to develop an appropriate public safety plan as dictated by Summary Closure ordinance.”

Under the ordinance, a business that is deemed a public safety threat is ordered to remain closed “until the business owner takes reasonable steps to protect its employees, patrons and members of the public from future harm,” according to the city’s website.

Just after mighnight Friday, a group of about 15 people started fighting near an alley in the 600 block of North Franklin, according to police. A male in the crowd then pulled out a handgun and fired off several shots, striking 28-year-old Thurman Bailey and a 58-year-old man, police and the medical examiner’s office said.

Bailey was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead about an hour after the fight broke out, authorities said. He lived in Bronzeville.

The older man was also taken to Northwestern and treated for bullet fragments in his leg and arm, police said.

Police spokesman Hector Alfaro said Bailey worked at the nightclub, while the 58-year-old “was associated with the business.”

No one has been arrested in connection with the shooting, police said. The suspected shooter was seen wearing a green puffy jacket and a black hat.

On Friday afternoon, the nightclub announced on social media that it was “voluntarily closing” for the weekend.