Chicago Night Club

[PM_Mama00]

Did anyone hear about the 21 lost lives at a Chicago night club? If I could find a story I would post, but all I have is the AOL one.

From what I read, two girls were fighting, and one decided to be a dumbass and spray mace or pepper spray. This caused a wide spread panic throughout the club, and there was a stampede to get out of the club. Twenty-one people were killed due to being crushed and suffocated. People were smashed up against the door trying to get out. This is such a sad story, and my prayers go out to those families.

[valkyrie]

There was an article on the Chicago Tribune website that told pretty much the whole story, as far as I know. My understanding is that a security guard at the club was the one who sprayed the mace/pepper spray. Apparently a court had ordered the owners not to have the nightclub (E2) open. It's tragic, but not really shocking the way they cram people into clubs around here.

[Heather]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/873861.asp?vts=021720032210

I think there is also a link to the story under the "Official News Thread" at the top of the chit chat page.

In addition to what was already posted, I had read something that said that the club's exits were being blocked. WTF? You don't block exits to the building?

I've worked in clubs long enough to know that YOU DON'T SPRAY PEPPER SPRAY/MACE INTO THE CROWD. Stuff like that will cause mass hysteria. Normally when fights occur, the DJ's stops the music and all the lights are supposed to come on so people can see what's going on. Guards and staff are supposed to be trained to handle the situation without anyone getting hurt.

It's terrible to know that these club owners weren't supposed to even have this place open. It's so sad to hear that 21 people innocently lost their lives.

[thesweetestone]

[texas*princess]

I read about that last night

In the story I read from netscape.com, one of the security guards sprayed the pepper spray or mace to stop the fight and it caused panic.

The 'club' was not even supposed to be open, and according to the Fire Marshall there, the owner knew it, because the building had many fire-code violations including the exits... I can't remember if there weren't enough exits or what.

I will try to post the link here.

Here it is:

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...&w=APO&coview=

I think the night club might be held responsible for the deaths and that charges and/or lawsuits will be filed.

Not only that, but spraying something in a crowded building in the 'post 9-11' era is just wrong. People might think it's some kind of biological stuff or something

[SATX*APhi]

I heard about this morning on Good Morning America. It's tragic, but definitely could have been avoided.

[PM_Mama00]

I just saw another picture of the crowd up against the glass. It reminded me of one nite when a bunch of us went to Have a Nice Day Cafe in Pontiac, Michigan. It was college nite over Christmas break. We only went twice, but both times the place was over crowded. We were literally pulling and yanking each other through the crowd to get to the exit, and this wasn't even near closing time.

I think clubs need to start having a smaller cap at how many people they allow in. But then again, many owners only care about the money they make.

[AXJules]

It's really frustrating for people who are legitimate and work in the clubbing industry in chicago. Mayor Daley has really killed a lot of the industry by enforcing these ridiculous laws that really add nothing to the safety of bars in Chicagoland.

E2 was an incredibly ghetto hangout on the South side of Chicago that was supposed to be closed in July. The owner chained the second and third exits b/c of earlier problems they had had with people bringing weapons into the club.

Now, because he was too lazy to do crowd control BEFORE people entered the club and didn't want to deal with turning away people w/guns, 21 are dead and Daley's going to have a field day. I'm pissed.

[AlphaSigOU]

That's why the fire marshal in all cities and towns require all places of public assembly to post in a prominent place the maximum occupancy of a room. This number is based on the square footage of a room and the number of entrances and exits required based on local, state or national requirements. Exceeding this number will result in heavy fines against the owner of an establishment.

Unfortunately, either because of greed (the more people packed in to the club, the better for the bottom line), crime or security problems (people sneaking in and/or out through side doors, high crime in the neighborhood, the current homeland security threat level) can make a situation like that what happened at Epitome a disaster waiting to happen. The death toll could have been much worse.

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by AXJules
E2 was an incredibly ghetto hangout on the South side of Chicago that was supposed to be closed in July. The owner chained the second and third exits b/c of earlier problems they had had with people bringing weapons into the club.

Now, because he was too lazy to do crowd control BEFORE people entered the club and didn't want to deal with turning away people w/guns, 21 are dead and Daley's going to have a field day. I'm pissed.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree here. Now, I've never been to E2, but I have almost gone a few times. As far as I've heard, it had a reputation as a pretty nice club, although it has been plagued by more than its share of problems. In terms of clubs, it is supposed to be pretty upscale, with a good assortment of educated and classy patrons (of course there are ALWAYS exceptions). When celebrities come to town, they often stop by E2.

Although technically on the south side, E2 was at like 24th and Michigan, which is pretty far north for the south side, and it's really not a bad neighborhood. I would go there myself without any more worry for my safety than I'd have anywhere else.

I have to say, though, based on my own experience at a hip hop club this weekend, I think that people at clubs have a lot to learn about manners. I'm not sure why people are fighting in clubs like the women at E2, but I think it's time for us as a society to learn how to act like mature adults. When I was at the club, I had guys grabbing my butt and women pushing me and I was really shocked at how rude and inconsiderate people can be. I am so sorry that people died, but I really think this needs to serve as a big WAKE UP CALL that we need to play nice. If you can't behave at the club, STAY HOME.

[AXJules]

I totally agree that it has to do with the way people behave, if you can't control yourself in public, then you don't deserve to be there.

But still, my point is that Daley is going to be like, *clubs are evil* and use this as a means to make things even worse for promoters and club owners. Maybe E2 was nice inside, but it isn't on the level of other clubs in Chicago, like Domaine, Rive Gauche, or even Nocturnal. How many clubs do you know of that chain doors shut and use mase?? He's going to use E2 as an example of most nitelife in Chi-town, when that's pretty inaccurate.

[Hootie]

I first heard about it on the Today show this morning and was shocked at the pictures of people crammed by the exit still. It eerily reminded me of soccer games where the crowd was smashed into the chain fense and many were trampled on. So very sad ~ especially since it could have been prevented.

I recall that on Today they had a girl on that was there and she remembered running and then being overcomed by people pushing into her. She said something about falling and getting hit in the face and she went unconscience and then when she came to she noticed people were being trampled and (I THINK) she said she tried to give CPR to a few people because no one was helping.

I hope that the city can find the documented records about that place supposed to be shut down. That'll help for a swift case and some closure for the families involved!

[FiReKraCkEr]

I heard on CNN, I think, that more than 21 died......more like 32. Regardless, it's such a sad, sad story.....