Chicago's Magnificent Mile, Gold Coast ground zero for gun battles, lootings

Downtown Chicago targeted by 'car caravans' of looters overnight

Portions of downtown Chicago were overrun by looters overnight, just days after a local musician was gunned down in the city's Gold Coast neighborhood by a suspected gang rival.

Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, Gold Coast, and Irving North neighborhoods and neighboring commercial districts were targeted by “car caravans” of people who ransacked high-end stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue and a Tesla dealership, late Sunday night into Monday, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said Monday.

A broken storefront window is seen in Chicago early Monday. (Getty Images)

A broken storefront window is seen after parts of the city had widespread looting and vandalism, on August 10, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

People are seen near a looted Best Buy store in Chicago. (Getty Images)

People load walk out of a looted Best Buy store after parts of the city had widespread looting and vandalism, on August 10, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A door to the Block 37 retail building is shattered Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, after vandals struck overnight in Chicago's famed Loop. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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“Criminals took to the streets with confidence that there would be no consequences for their actions and I, for one, refuse to allow these cowardly acts to hold our city hostage,” Brown said during a Monday morning press conference. “CPD will not stand by as our beautiful downtown becomes someplace that people fear.”

Just days earlier, on Tuesday, a local rapper was fatally shot in broad daylight.

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FBG Duck, whose real name was Carlton Weekly, was allegedly involved with a gang and was located by rivals after detailing his travels in live-streamed videos, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said shortly after the murder.

Rapper FBG Duck, whose real name was Carlton Weekly (YouTube)

Weekly was shopping on East Oak Street near North Rush Street and North Lake Shore Drive shortly after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday with two people when a pair of vehicles pulled up to them and four people got out, police said at the time.

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Two people from each vehicle “began firing at the individuals that were on the sidewalk outside one of the stores here,” Chicago Police Department’s Deputy Chief Daniel O’Shea said at the time.

Weekly, 26, was shot multiple times and was rushed to a nearby hospital, but could not be saved. A 28-year-old woman who was sitting in her vehicle nearby was struck and was hospitalized in stable condition. Another man, 36, was also shot.

Gold Coast Historic District, North Dearborn Parkway neighborhood townhouses. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

"This is a beautiful city," Brown continued during Monday's press conference, "and Chicago police officers will not allow this selfish criminal act to destroy what generations of hard work have built."

Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood on Oak Street is known for its clothing boutiques and other high-end retail, including several jewelry stores and designer brands, such as Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, Rebecca Minkoff, and Carolina Herrera.

Magnificent Mile boasts its own plethora of upscale destinations, which line 13 blocks of North Michigan Avenue, with more than 450 stores, 70 hotels, and 275 restaurants.

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Actor Vince Vaughn on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The area has also boasted big-name residents, including Oprah Winfrey, Vince Vaughn and several Chicago-based athletes, according to multiple reports from Curbed Chicago.

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Fashion expert and TV host Giuliana Rancic and Bill, an entrepreneur and author, used to live only a block from where Weekly was shot.

Bill Rancic and Giuliana Rancic on May 21, 2019, in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

They listed their East Bellevue Place home in 2018 for $6.8 million, five years after buying the 1886 Victorian brownstone for $2.125 million, according to Curbed and the Chicago Tribune.

Meanwhile, longtime actor Vaughn once owned a massive penthouse apartment along Magnificent Mile.

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He famously split it up into two expansive units, one on the 35th floor and the other encompassing the 36th and 37th, which he sold in 2016, according to a different Curbed report.

Oprah Winfrey at the presentation of Stella McCartney's ready-to-wear Fall-Winter 2019-2020 fashion collection in Paris on March 4, 2019 (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

Media mogul Winfrey was lauded for her time spent in Chicago, where she ran Harpo Studios starting in 1990. During her time in the Windy City, Winfrey owned multiple properties, including a 9,600 square-foot duplex condominium along Magnificent Mile, according to CBS Chicago.

According to the report, in the early 90s, she bought and converted three units in the Water Tower Palace into one sprawling home on the 56th floor, with four bedrooms and seven-and-a-half baths.

She reportedly listed the condo in 2014 for $7.75 million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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