Neighbors want Chicago bar shut down permanently after third fatal shooting since 2023
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Pilsen bar is temporarily closed after a shooting just days before the new year, and neighbors worry any reopening would bring back old problems, so they're fighting to keep it closed for good.
A candle burning in the afternoon snow outside Caminos De Michoacan as part of a memorial for the man who was killed there around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 30. Handwritten notes identify the 25-year-old victim as Franklin.
That shooting prompted an orange summary closure order on the same Pilsen building: "Business Closed by the Order of the Superintendent of Police."
"He had 27 bullets into him. We have to realize people think that we're anti-bar or something. I'm hearing this whispered. In the community, everyone's like, 'It's about time,'" said Fr. Brendan Curran, an organizer with Pilsen-based nonprofit The Resurrection Project.
Speaking for community members afraid for their own safety, Curran said that shooting was the latest in a series of issues at Caminos. What started as nuisances – late nights, loud crowds, broken beer bottles – has turned into repeated violence.
Curran said a man was killed and a woman injured in another shooting on Cinco de Mayo weekend last year. The victims had left Caminos and were headed to another bar when they were shot.
On Oct. 15, 2023, a 21-year-old man was shot and killed in a drive-by outside Caminos.
A concerned neighbor provided videos showing each shooting started with people leaving Caminos.
CBS News Chicago tried reaching the owners, but nobody answered, the voicemail full.
Family-owned since 1982, the future of Caminos is uncertain, leaving some neighbors wondering what happens next.
"I don't really know what to say. This bar is basically the same thing as that tree over there in the very back. It's been here so long, it's basically like somewhat of a landmark," said Miguel Ramirez, who has lived nearby for 19 years.
Others hope closing time has come for good – circulating a petition to keep it closed permanently.
In a statement, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) said, in part: "We have not received any recent notification from either CPD or BACP [Business Affairs and Consumer Protection] regarding the closure of the business, as CPD advised that it will remain closed as the investigation is ongoing."