CHICAGO: Two people are dead and another eight wounded following a shooting near a fast food restaurant in Chicago that sent bystanders scattering, authorities said.
The shooting happened about 10:40 pm on Thursday near a McDonald's on the city's Near North Side, a few blocks from the city's Magnificent Mile shopping district. One person was taken into custody and a weapon was recovered, police said in statement.
Details about what led to the shooting weren't immediately released by police, but a witness, Deonna Jackson (18) said that the shooting appeared to stem from a fight outside the restaurant. "When the fight first started, we were right next to them. We had to run because I didn't want anyone to swing on me," Deonna told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The shooting comes amid a surge in deadly violence in the city in recent years. And it follows a deadly shooting last weekend in downtown Chicago's Millennium Park that killed a teen and led the city to tighten a curfew for young people as part of efforts to curb violence.
As paramedics and officers responded Thursday, a fight erupted between two people across the street from the scene of the shooting, the Chicago Tribune reported, and some people crossed a line of police tape and argued with officers before they were moved away.
Police didn't immediately release the names or ages of the dead. Additional details about the circumstances of the shooting weren't immediately released. An investigation was ongoing.