CHICAGO — A member of Colorado's General Assembly witnessed a shooting early Friday morning in Chicago that happened just outside a diner near where the Democratic National Convention had just wrapped up, he confirmed to 9NEWS.
The shooting happened just before 3 a.m. local time outside the White Palace Grill on Canal Street in Chicago, the NBC affiliate in Chicago reported. That's just about two miles away from McCormick Place, one of two Chicago venues where DNC events had been taking place.
"All of a sudden we just heard gunshots and they were very close," Javier Mabrey, a witness and DNC attendee said. "Half the people in the restaurant were from the DNC."
Mabrey is a member of the Colorado General Assembly where he represents District 1, which includes Denver and Jefferson counties. He told 9NEWS there were three people from Colorado at the diner when the shooting happened and that all of them were safe.
"My initial reaction was this is a mass shooting," Mabrey said immediately after the shooting. "And so all of us got down immediately under the tables and thought there was somebody in the restaurant who was going to shoot every single person that was in there. That's what it felt like at the time."
He also shared a post on X from another man who said he was in the diner with Mabrey and other friends when the shooting happened. In that post, that man said he was lying on the floor along with others who took cover when they heard gunshots.
Content warning: The social media post below contains strong language. Discretion is advised.
The victim was shot multiple times but taken to a hospital where his condition was described as fair, the local NBC station reported.