CHICAGO — Prosecutors have accused a man of firing a gun at a West Town hookah lounge this summer, leading to the city’s closure of the business. Three people were shot during the incident at Lyon’s Den, 2123 West Division, early July 19.
Prosecutors said 33-year-old Shawn Booker was identified in a photo lineup while the man was seen on video firing a gun into a crowd in the lounge, which was open for business.
In a detention order, Judge Ankur Srivastava wrote that Booker “shot three victims and could have easily killed them or others.” The judge’s order stated that Booker had “nine prior convictions” and “discharged his illegally possessed firearm indiscriminately into a crowded building.”
However, prosecutors have not charged Booker with shooting anyone. Instead, he is being held on a charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm into an occupied building.
Citing preliminary information shortly after the shooting, Chicago police said the gunman fired from a black sedan and drove away. But a witness told CWBChicago that they saw a second gunman shooting from a nearby corner.
Investigators placed more than two dozen evidence markers next to shell casings in the area, some right outside Lyon’s Den at 2123 West Division, more across the street from the club, and others a few doors away.
According to CPD, all victims were reported in good condition: a 23-year-old man who was shot in the shoulder, a 45-year-old man in the left elbow and a 31-year-old man with gunshot wounds to both feet.
Previous problems
Early on January 1, 2023, a gun battle near the entrance to Lyon’s Den left one of the club’s security officers dead and another person injured.
Shortly after the shooting, police said a man tried to enter Lyon’s Den around 1:30 a.m. while brandishing a gun, then exchanged gunfire with the victims. Austin McAllister, a 38-year-old father of six who worked as a bouncer at Lyon’s Den, died. The other victim, a 26-year-old man, suffered a gunshot wound to his left calf and survived. Family members said McAllister was the father of six children and a military veteran.
“He was injured in Iraq when he came home to Chicago and was killed for turning away a hookah lounge patron? He wasn’t there partying. He didn’t drink. He worked there for his children and for himself,” McAllister’s sister told ABC7 after the shooting.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) called on the city to close Lyon’s Den after the 2023 shooting, but then-CPD Supt. David Brown refused to take action. The club agreed in March 2023 to improve security and limit BYOB alcohol consumption.
Nearly two months after the shooting, CPD announced they were looking for a 31-year-old parolee named Jimmy Chamberlain in connection with the shooting. He had been on parole exactly three years after serving half of a 21-year sentence for an armed home invasion.
Authorities caught up with Chamberlain last summer. He is currently in prison awaiting trial on twelve crimes, including eight murders and four attempted murders.
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