LINCOLN PARK — Lincoln Park’s alderman is calling for tougher rules for late-night bars after a second late-night shooting in less than two months along a popular stretch of Lincoln Avenue.
Neighbors are also expressing concerns about the area, though the neighborhood is typically considered one of the safest in Chicago when it comes to violent crime.
The shooting happened 11:43 p.m. Sunday in the 2200 block of North Lincoln Avenue. Two men got into a fight, and one of them took out a gun and shot the other man multiple times, police said. The victim — identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Malik McCorckle, 30 — was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A man was taken into custody, and charges were pending, police said.
The slaying comes about six weeks after a 39-year-old woman was critically wounded in another late-night shooting just around the corner on Belden Avenue, an incident that prompted Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd) to push for new restrictions on late-night businesses along the Lincoln Avenue corridor.
Knudsen renewed those calls Monday morning, sending an email to ward residents telling them his office has been making an “aggressive push for further restrictions on late-night bars on this stretch of Lincoln Avenue.”
“I am hopeful and confident that the Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection will view this homicide as sufficient evidence of the need to support specific restrictions on this stretch,” Knudsen wrote.
The 2200 block of North Lincoln Avenue, where a man was fatally shot Sunday night, is seen Monday, July 20, 2026. Credit: Patrick Filbin/Block Club Chicago
Police have said they’ll add additional patrols to the 2200 block of Lincoln Avenue, including a permanent patrol during the weekend, Knudsen wrote.
“This homicide should have never occurred,” Knudsen wrote. “Our office stands with [police] to ensure they have the resources they need to charge the offender and tools to ensure it does not happen again.”
Ideas for more restrictions for the area include limiting late-night licenses and putting stricter parking enforcement on Belden Avenue, which sees a lot of late-night activity during the weekend, Knudsen has previously said.
After the first shooting that wounded the woman, Knudsen said the people involved had come from The Dime, 2262 N. Lincoln Ave., one of many bars and nightlife establishments near the Lincoln and Belden intersection. It was not immediately clear what business might have been connected to the men from Sunday night’s shooting.
On Monday afternoon, Block Club observed two police investigators enter The Dime; as they walked inside, one officer remarked to the other that it was the “same place” they had been to in about two months.
Owners of The Dime did not return requests for comment.
Neighbors Concerned
The 2200 block of North Lincoln Avenue, where a man was fatally shot Sunday night, is seen Monday, July 20, 2026. Credit: Patrick Filbin/Block Club Chicago
People living near the intersection said they were struggling to reconcile another shooting with their feeling about the area.
Ashley Moody, who lives nearby on Lincoln Avenue, said she heard the gunfire from this weekend’s shooting.
“The last one happened around 2 in the morning. We’re asleep by then,” Moody said. “This one was around 11. I could have been walking my dog. I’m sure other people were walking their dog, going about the day.”
Moody said she moved to Lincoln Park because it felt quieter than other parts of the city, which made having two shootings just weeks apart especially unsettling.
Lydia and Alejandro Perez, who have lived nearby for about two years, said they still consider Lincoln Park one of the city’s safer neighborhoods but were shocked to learn another shooting had happened on the same block.
Lydia Perez said she generally feels safe in the neighborhood during the day but tries to avoid walking alone after dark. News of another late-night shooting only reinforced that caution.
“Hearing about it is shocking because I wouldn’t expect it to be happening here, even if it’s late at night,” she said.
The 2200 block of North Lincoln Avenue, where a man was fatally shot Sunday night, is seen Monday, July 20, 2026. Credit: Patrick Filbin/Block Club Chicago
Alejandro Perez said shootings and fights in other nightlife districts have become familiar headlines, but hearing about violence in his own neighborhood felt different.
“When you hear word of mouth of it in your own neighborhood, it’s a little bit more like, ‘Now I do want to go on the news and check it out,’” he said.
Nabil Kheruf, a software engineer and Uber driver, makes late-night pickups relatively often in the neighborhood, he said. The strip of bars on Lincoln Avenue usually has a younger crowd, he said, but he hasn’t felt like he’s in danger.
“You have to be aware as a driver that the people coming out of these bars are in their early 20s,” Kheruf said. “I’ve experienced some of the careless behavior of younger people in this neighborhood, but it’s never been seriously dangerous.”
