CHICAGO (CBS) ― Gunfire erupted overnight in a Logan Square nightclub, and now, police are investigating the murder of a 17-year-old boy. On Thursday morning, red and yellow crime scene tape lined the VLive nightclub, 2047 N. Milwaukee Ave., on the cusp of Logan Square and Bucktown. Police said they came to the nightclub around 2 a.m. to find a male dead on the scene with a gunshot wound to the head. He was later identified as Ramiro Guevara, 17, of an unidentified home address, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. Guevara was in an argument with a male who produced a gun and shot him, police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said. No one else was injured, according to the lieutenant. The VLive nightclub is a two-story dance club above Fuego Mexican Grill and Margarita Bar. VLive is open from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. The venue's Web site describes the dress code as "upscale/trendy club attire," and says no gym shoes, baggy jeans, polo shirts, flip-flops and braids are to be worn in the venue. The site says the club is for patrons over the age of 21, but a doorman who asked to stay anonymous said the age minimum is lowered to 18 for concerts. Banda El Recodo was playing when the shooting happened, according to 20-year-old Juan Alba, who said admission was $30.
Daisy Duarte, 20, of Milwaukee, said the band was playing on the second floor when a fight started and cups of beer and beer bottles were being thrown. One woman was hit in the eye with a beer bottle, causing her to bleed, Duarte said. "We heard a gunshot. It sounded like a pop. It was loud," according to 26-year-old Alex Malverde, who was in the third-floor VIP section with Alba. Police said a large number of people were inside the club when the shooting happened and detectives are treating dozens people inside as witnesses. Yellow and red crime scene tape remained in front of the building at 3:30 a.m., and Duarte said police have not yet allowed patrons back inside to get their jackets and other belongings. Jessica Lopez and Alex Meraz, both of Logan Square, were still standing outside the club after the shooting -- in shock at what had taken place. "We were dancing together and we just heard pops," according to the 23-year-old Lopez, who said they were on the third floor when the shooting occurred. "But one of them was really loud." "It could have been bottles, it sounded like bottles," according to Meraz, who said it wasn't clear whether the sounds were coming from the second or third floor. Meraz, 26, said there were "pockets" of people fighting throughout the club. After the melee, the crowd tried to leave immediately, he said. "Everybody was just trying to rush out, it was like a stampede. But it was stopped," Meraz said. The couple said the club opened this year. They said there have been fights before, but both were surprised someone was killed. About five years ago, the place was called the OK Corral, a bar and restaurant. The OK Corral was known to have problems, but the venue has not had problems since becoming VLive, according to Meraz. "This is the first time this has happened here before," Meraz said of the shooting. "You would never think of something like this happening here," Grand Central Area detectives are investigating, but nobody was in custody as of 3:30 a.m.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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