Chicago police responded to a mass-casualty shooting late Wednesday, after multiple 911 calls reported gunfire near Chicago and Franklin avenues in the city’s Near North Side. The incident unfolded shortly before midnight outside the Artis nightclub at 311 W. Chicago Ave., where an album-release party was under way. Officer Julio Garcia said "multiple people" were struck and that detectives are interviewing witnesses and reviewing security video. Northwestern Medicine spokesman Chris King confirmed the hospital’s emergency department was treating a number of victims but did not give a total or describe their conditions. Preliminary figures cited by first-responder radio traffic and local media put the tally at nine wounded, although unconfirmed reports from scene investigators suggested as many as 12–17 people were hit, with up to three fatalities. Police have not announced any arrests, and investigators are examining whether the gunfire came from a drive-by involving several vehicles. The downtown attack capped a violent stretch for the city that has seen separate shootings in Englewood, South Shore and other neighborhoods since the weekend, including gunfire directed at an unmarked police car Wednesday evening. Chicago police are urging anyone with information about the nightclub shooting to contact Area Three detectives.