The E2 nightclub stampede occurred on February 17, 2003, at the E2 nightclub above the Epitome restaurant at 2347 South Michigan Avenue in the South Loop neighborhood of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, in which 21 people died and more than 50 were injured when panic ensued from the use of

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, ...

by a security guard to break up a fight. The club's owners were convicted of criminal contempt for their persistent failure to keep the facility up to code, and sentenced to two years probation.

Background

Incident

The stampede was triggered by club security using pepper spray to break up a fight. Several patrons close to the commotion experienced vomiting or fainting from the spray's noxious fumes and others, believing the club to have been hit with poison gas in a terrorist attack, rushed towards the exit. The exit was the steep front stairwell leading to the main entrance on the ground floor, the narrow doors of which opened inward - a fire code violation. Additionally, while the doors were normally kept open during business hours, they had been closed after the fight participants were ejected. Although at least one emergency exit was opened by a security guard, there were disputed reports of another chained shut. People climbing the stairs were knocked down and pinned by the crowd. As security attempted to pull them to safety, the heap of bodies reached six feet in height as more than 1,500 people fled the perceived threat. While trying to free trapped patrons, E2 guard Ira Navarro heard other clubbers atop the stairs laughing at the fracas, unaware of the fatalities.Some laughed in E2 stampede: Patrons did not know they were shoving others to their deaths
– Chicago Sun-Times, 1/19/07; reprinted on highbeam.com

Victims

Twenty-one patrons – twelve women and nine men, between the ages of 19 and 43 – died from compressional

asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that ca ...

and more than 50 others were injured.All E2 victims were crushed
– Chicago Tribune, 1/26/2007

Legal

A number of controversies arose from the case. A city-issued court order showed that the owners, Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins, were guilty of eleven building code violations, including overcrowding and faulty exit lighting.
– CNN.com, 2/19/2003 Police were called to the location 80 times during the two years prior to the stampede.
– Time, 2/24/03 Kyles and Hollins had been ordered to shut down the second-floor club in 2002. Their attorneys claimed that the court order related only to a raised VIP section of the club, not the entire second floor of the building.Chicago overwhelmed by nightclub deaths
– CNN.com, 2/25/03 City inspectors then believed the facility's only business thereafter came from the ground floor Epitome Chicago restaurant, which the club attorneys said was false as police officers (both on and off duty) regularly handled the persistently large crowds, and club advertisements were common on radio and the Internet. During the January 2007 trial, the prosecution claimed the club's security staff were not properly trained. Security guard Samuel Bone testified to using pepper spray to disband a group of fifteen brawling clubbers. He said he was indeed trained in the proper use of pepper spray by the nonprofit Illinois Police Reserve Patrol.
– Chicago Tribune, 1/23/07; reprinted on highbeam.com On November 25, 2009, Kyles and Hollins were acquitted of

involuntary manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

charges, but were found guilty of indirect criminal contempt for violating the court order to close the entire second floor of the club and were sentenced to two years probation.E2 Owners Get 2 Years In Prison
– WBBM, 11/25/09 E2 and Epitome both permanently closed after the incident.
– NBC Chicago, 2/2009 On November 16, 2011, the ruling was overturned when a judge ruled that the court order to close the second floor was ambiguous. On April 4, 2013, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously overturned the 2011 ruling and upheld the 2009 conviction of criminal contempt, calling the court order "certain, clear and concise."

References

External links

Tribune coverage
from the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...