Chicago nightclub mass shooting leaves four dead and 14 wounded

At least four people have been killed and another 14 injured in a mass shooting at a rapper’s album release party outside a Chicago nightclub, authorities say.

Police confirmed that multiple people had been shot in a drive-by shooting at about 11 p.m. near Artis Lounge nightclub on the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue. The vehicle immediately fled the scene, authorities said.

First responders were evaluating several people injured at the scene, according to Northwestern Medicine spokesperson Chris King. Several police cars blocked off streets and emergency personnel rushed victims into ambulances.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, police said the victims were taken to several nearby hospitals, including Stroger Hospital, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Mt. Sinai Hospital and Illinois Masonic Hospital.

Two men – aged 24 and 25 – and two women succumbed to gunshot wounds in the hospital, according to the newspaper. Four women aged between 21 and 31 are reportedly in critical condition. Ten other victims, aged between 24 and 32, are believed to be in stable condition.

According to the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, the shooting occurred as people were leaving a party for Chicago-based drill rapper Mello Buckzz, 24, who had just released a new album Hollyhood.

“Prayers up for all my sisters god please wrap yo arms around every last one of them,” the artist, whose real name is Melanie Doyle, wrote on her Instagram story Thursday morning.

“We need u i need u ngl im f***ed up ..feel like everything just weighing down on me,” she continued. “All i can do is talk to god and pray.”

Sources told NBC Chicago the boyfriend and best friend of rapper Mello were among the deceased.

In another post shared to her story, the rapper said “I can’t believe i lost both yall in 1 night,” along with a photograph of her with two friends. Another read that her “heart is broke into so many pieces.”

Several shell casings were spotted inside and outside the club, according to the Sun-Times.

No one was in custody Thursday moring as detectives continue to investigate the scene.

Officer Julio Garcia said the Chicago Police Department would release additional updates as they became available.

He could not provide the number of people sent to the hospital or their conditions.

Artis Lounge is at the same location as the former Hush nightclub that the city shut down more than two years deeming it a “public safety threat” following a fatal shooting outside.