CHICAGO (CBS) — A bouncer was the victim of a New Year's Eve shooting at a Ukrainian hookah village in Chicago.
LaToya Wade said she needed to see for herself where her child's father died.
He said, "I had to come and see where this tavern was." "I just didn't believe it."
Austin McAllister, father of six, personal trainer and Army veterinarian, worked as a bouncer at Lions Den on New Year's Eve.
"A worker, he served the country, he was here trying to support his children," Wade said.
Police say the suspect broke into the hookah lounge with a gun at night. When the suspect was not allowed in, he opened fire on the door.
According to police, two men returned fire.
"The kid couldn't get into the bar last night," Wade said. "She told him that he couldn't get in and that this guy had just killed himself."
He said that McAllister later died at the Stroger Hospital.
Police say another 20-year-old man was also injured but is expected to be fine.
Video from outside the lobby shows dozens of rescuers blocking the street to traffic.
Wade said he had trouble processing it.
She said, "Go find another pub to go to." "Why would you take someone's life because you can't get in?" Oh my God ! I can not believe this.
The records show a hookah bar that opened in the section in 2020. Online announces BYOB New Year's Eve Party.
Decorations from the short feast still hang inside.
For weeks, Wade said he warned his son's father that his job could be dangerous.
He said, "You never know."
And now it's too late.
"It's getting serious," he said. “One indiscriminate killing after another. That's too much".
Police say security video shows the suspect getting into a light-colored SUV and driving west down Division Street after the shooting.
CBS2 reached out to Leon Dean for comment but received no response.
McAllister's twin brother was also working in a saloon at the time and witnessed the shooting. Police found at least one firearm at the scene and are still investigating CCTV footage.
Nobody is in custody.
