Police: Four handguns recovered from Bloomingdale hotel shooting

Bloomingdale police recovered four handguns from the frantic scene of a hotel shooting over the weekend that left one person dead and renewed calls to force Indian Lakes out of business.

Village trustees on Monday night discussed the procedural requirements needed to revoke operational licenses for the Indian Lakes Hotel in the wake of an altercation that turned violent among members of two groups numbering more than 100.

At least six people were shot, one fatally, police said. No arrests have been made, and no one was in custody Monday, Bloomingdale Public Safety Director Frank Giammarese said. Witnesses and shooting victims are offering little cooperation, police said.

The separate groups were on the fifth and sixth floors of the 310-room hotel when fighting broke out. Police were trying to confirm the exact number of hotel rooms that were rented but suspect it was only about five.

"It may be somewhere in that range, but not enough to hold well over 100 and something people," Giammarese said.

Friends took James McGill Jr., 27, of Chicago, to St. Alexius Hospital in Hoffman Estates, where he later died, police said.

Another victim, a 22-year-old man, underwent surgery at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. He remains in critical condition and will need additional surgeries, police said.

Two other victims were taken to Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield: a 30-year-old man, who had surgery and was released, and a 29-year-old man, who also was treated and released.

A 25-year-old woman was treated and released from Amita Adventist GlenOaks in Glendale Heights. Another man, 26, was taken by his friends to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, treated and released.

Police were called to the hotel at 2:35 a.m. Saturday. One patrol officer had to carry a shooting victim down six flights of stairs, while others put tourniquets on victims, Giammarese said.

"The elevator was out of commission, I believe maybe because of an injured person may have been inside of it," he said.

Police found the guns outside of the hotel near the entrance.

"As police were responding just shortly after the shooting, they probably made a choice to try to hide those guns since there was a police presence, tried to discard them or hide them," Giammarese said.

Police have not released a motive for the shooting. Social media posts indicate McGill was an aspiring rapper known as BCR Meezle.

"I know we had heard through the investigation that someone was either releasing, doing something involving a rap video," Giammarese said.

On Monday, a notice posted by the village on the Indian Lakes entrance stated the hotel was "not approved for occupancy." Hotel management has told the village Indian Lakes is closed.

Village President Franco Coladipietro has called for revoking all of its licenses, effectively putting the hotel out of business.

Village Administrator Pietro Scalera and the village attorney are preparing documents to begin the process to rescind the hotel's business and liquor license. Coladipietro plans to issue a 10-day suspension of the hotel's business license. A formal hearing is expected to be held later this month.

In recent years, police have seen a dramatic increase in the number of calls from the hotel. Police have responded to reports of domestic disturbances, loud noise complaints, intoxicated people, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

"We've taken guns off people. We've arrested some people on warrants there," Giammarese said.

The village has previously called on the hotel to boost security.

"Unfortunately, the night of the shooting, it did not appear that there was any security on staff, and they did not have appropriate staffing for the amount of people within the hotel," Giammarese said. "From my perception, I only saw one visible employee of the hotel at the front desk."

In addition to law enforcement issues, the hotel has had problems with upkeep, village officials say. Two years ago, Bloomingdale officials warned in a letter to the hotel's owner that the village could potentially suspend or revoke the business license if Indian Lakes "continually fails to meet village's code requirements."

"Obviously, there has been a fundamental breakdown in the management of that property and in compliance on their part with our specific concerns that our staff has had over the past seven years," Coladipietro said Monday night.

Property manager First Hospitality Group issued a statement Saturday saying it would continue to work with the village and cooperate with the police investigation.

• Daily Herald staff writer Trey Arline contributed to this report.