Scene where Michael Ricks was fatally shot / Photo by Sam Charles
BY Lauren FitzPatrick
Chicago Sun-Times
Michael Ricks was killed and another man was wounded when gunfire erupted inside Riff Music Lounge early Saturday in the South Loop.
Ricks was inside the nightclub in the 2200 block of South Michigan Avenue when he got into an argument about a woman about 1:20 a.m., authorities said.
The man Ricks was arguing with was escorted out of the club, but he returned with a gun a short time later and opened fire, authorities said.
Ricks, 36, of the 2300 block of South State Street, was shot in the abdomen area and died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, authorities said.
“And as a result of that, here we are having to plan for a funeral now of Michael Ricks,” said Carlos Estes, a family friend and spokesman.
He had grown up in the Dearborn Homes on South State Street, where his mother, Doris Ricks, was a longtime Local Advisory Council president, said Carlos Estes, a family friend and spokesman.
“Everybody knows Ms. Ricks,” he said.
Her son, who was attending a birthday party he was invited to at Riff, leaves behind several young children, Estes said.
Relatives and friends blocked the door of Doris Ricks’ apartment Saturday afternoon. Her brother — for whom Michael Ricks was named — said she was not well enough to speak to reporters.
“She’s already been very sick but she’s very, very ill behind this,” Estes said.
The shots fired inside the club also injured a 39-year-old man not involved in the argument, police said. He took himself to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County for treatment.
According to the nightclub’s Facebook page, “Riff is a multifaceted live music venue and lounge bringing swag and luxury back to the Prairie District of Chicago’s South Loop. Dress to impress.”
“We heard a ‘pop’ and we thought it was a bottle of champagne,” a man told the Chicago Tribune. “Then we saw a guy fall to the floor.”
The shooting prompted a larger than normal police response as officers from the neighboring River North District — which covers River North and Lincoln Park — provided assistance, police said.
Nobody has been charged for the killing.
Area North detectives are investigating.
— Contributing: Sam Charles and Ashlee Rezin