'Large Group' Riots in the Streets of Chicago, Two Teens Shot, Drivers Attacked, Cars Set Ablaze

On Saturday evening, mobs of youths rioted on Michigan Avenue in Chicago before shootings broke out. Two youths were shot and transported to hospital. pic.twitter.com/go46qTJjDj

— Andy Ng๔ 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 16, 2023

🚨#BREAKING: Chaotic Scene Unfolds in Downtown Chicago as Teenagers Vandalize Cars and Gunfire Erupts

📌#Chicago | #Illinois ⁰
There is currently a significant police response taking place in downtown Chicago due to a large group of teenagers causing chaos. They have been… pic.twitter.com/n7xhBpsTKs

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 16, 2023

Chicago last night (their new mayor wants to defund the police): pic.twitter.com/sQo6noI6kT

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 16, 2023

Meanwhile in Chicago tonight: pic.twitter.com/43rw5yOZhf

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 16, 2023

After a car caught on fire during a "large group" incident at 31st Street Beach on Friday, some people insisted the fire was caused by a battery malfunction.

Here's a video of what led up to the fire.#Chicago https://t.co/nchtSwx8SO

— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) April 16, 2023

Wouldn’t you close your businesses if community members destroyed their own communities? pic.twitter.com/WPxYcVtBSz

— • ᗰISᑕᕼIᗴᖴ ™ • (@4Mischief) April 16, 2023

Saturday's crowd, which formed after invitations to attend circulated on social media, began to go out of control around 7:30 p.m. as police said about 200 young people were fighting and jumping on cars near the intersection of Washington and Wabash.

[...] Around 8:50 p.m., officers radioed that they came upon two robbery victims who were attacked during the incident. The pair was transported to Insight Hospital for treatment. A CPD spokesperson said further details were not available on Sunday morning because the case report had not been finalized.

Chicago police made several arrests throughout the incident, but the exact number of people taken into custody is not known. According to CPD radio transmissions, officers were taking detained persons to the Wentworth (2nd) District because the local district's station could not handle them.

Fox32 announced that it pulled its news crews out of the area after they heard shots fired near the intersection of Michigan and Madison.

The station also reported that "a woman whose car was smashed by people jumping on the windshield said her husband was beaten as he sat in the driver's seat. He's been taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital." Chicago police officers escorted tourists and others to their cars in Millennium Park garage, the station said.

CTA limited stops in the Loop for Brown, Green, Pink, and Orange Line trains for about two hours late Saturday due to the incident. Regular service resumed shortly before midnight.

No public statements have been made about the incidents by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, or the Chicago Police Department.

Chicago democrats blame Walmart for closing, not their crime infested city pic.twitter.com/88quqdDxPi

— • ᗰISᑕᕼIᗴᖴ ™ • (@4Mischief) April 15, 2023

"There's only one thing that will stop our kids from busting into these jewelry stores and stealing watches and jewelry, and that’s reparations.”

Reparations would neither stop looting nor the call for more reparations. Both now seemingly life constants.
pic.twitter.com/xloG1B9inY

— Frank DeScushin (@FrankDeScushin) March 7, 2023

Chicago's new Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson told a group organizing for a "police-free future" that black people should be removed from "state-sponsored policing" as a way to fight "white supremacy." Sure. https://t.co/7gQnABsz5y

— 🇺🇸Lionel🇺🇸 (@LionelMedia) April 6, 2023