No one hurt in midday Loop shooting

CHICAGO - Gunfire rang out in the Loop Wednesday afternoon while two men argued outside a business, damaging a nearby window.

They were arguing with each other about 2 p.m. in the first block of West Madison Street when one of them pulled out a gun and opened fired, Chicago police said.

The gunfire didn’t strike anyone, but damaged the front window of a business, police said. The gunman was last seen driving off in a dark-colored vehicle west on Madison.

Police said they recovered one shell casing.

A witness said he saw one man raise his shirt and show a gun, sending two other men running away from a parking area just west of State Street.

The gunman then fired one shot before driving off in a red car, according to the the witness, who works nearby and asked not to be named.

“People were literally just frozen,” the man said, who took cover behind a bus stop. He said he’s worked in the area for six years and has never seen gun violence in the area before.

The CPD’s 1st District, which includes the Loop and South Loop, has recorded 25 shooting incidents with at least one victim so far this year, according to department statistics. That’s nearly an 80% increase in shootings from the same time in 2019, when the district had 14 shootings.