Updated

Updated · NBC Chicago · Jul 22

Chicago Shuts The Dime Bar After 30-Year-Old Is Killed in 2nd Shooting in 6 Weeks

Updated

Updated · NBC Chicago · Jul 22

Chicago Shuts The Dime Bar After 30-Year-Old Is Killed in 2nd Shooting in 6 Weeks

Q: A bar is shut down instantly after a shooting. Is this a new reality for Chicago's nightlife industry?

No. The Dime’s immediate shutdown is a serious enforcement action, but not a new standard for Chicago nightlife as a whole. What happened in Lincoln Park was a “summary closure order,” a tool Chicago police can use to close a business immediately if it is deemed a public safety threat, even before a hearing. City officials describe that power as rare, not routine. Since the ordinance took effect in 2015, it has reportedly been used fewer than 10 times a year citywide on average. The facts in this case matter. Officials tied The Dime not just to Sunday’s fatal shooting of Malik McCorkle, but to a recent earlier shooting that critically injured a woman and to what Ald. Timmy Knudsen called several years of safety problems. That history makes this look less like a new citywide rule and more like an escalation against a venue authorities believe has become a recurring flashpoint. Still, the case does signal a tougher climate for some late-night operators, especially in high-traffic corridors facing repeated complaints about violence, noise and disorder. Knudsen is also pushing for stricter rules on late-night bars in the area, and The Dime could face a fight over its liquor license if it seeks to reopen. For the broader industry, the message is clear: immediate closure remains uncommon, but bars with repeated safety incidents now face faster and more aggressive intervention from police and city regulators.

3 articles · Updated · NBC Chicago · Jul 22

Chicago used a rare summary closure to shut The Dime after Malik McCorkle, 30, was fatally shot outside the Lincoln Park bar Sunday night.
New surveillance video obtained Tuesday showed three men with handguns arguing outside the bar before one appeared to walk away and a shootout erupted.
Ald. Timmy Knudsen said the killing was the second shooting in six weeks tied to patrons from the bar, and fewer than 10 businesses a year face summary closure.
Police had made no arrests by Tuesday night; a person of interest was questioned and released as neighbors and nearby businesses welcomed the shutdown and urged tighter security citywide.