The familiar, if peculiar, sound of victory broke out in Chicago when the final buzzer on the Bulls championship sounded Sunday night: whooping and hollering, firecrackers and gunfire, and police sirens wailing across the city.
There were several confirmed shootings in the hours after the game, including one in which police shot and wounded five men who drove toward them in a confrontation outside a West Side liquor store.
Looting also took place in isolated spots of the city, and police on the street responded to the throngs of unruly people by pepper-spraying them and also shutting down the streets.
Fans shot out windows of squad cars on the West Side. Cars were tipped over at Archer and Central Avenues, as well as elsewhere, while wild gunfire was reported throughout the night all over the city.
A fire at a four-story residential building at 732 S. Kostner Ave. was the fourth major structural fire following the Bulls’ victory. It drew 50 firefighters just before midnight.
The postgame outburst–one that seemed under control only when compared with past years–broke a silence that had enveloped much of Chicago in the minutes before the game ended, when it appeared possible that the Bulls would lose.
Not all of the activity posed a danger. Fans were dancing in the street at Rush and Division and throwing paper out of their windows in an impromptu confetti rain.
People sprinted out of the bars. Some jogged in from around a corner and one man crawled out of an alley to join the wildly charged party.
Felix Lafontaine walked through the thick crowd with a plastic Bulls banner draped over his shoulders and hanging down to his ankles.
“I know I look crazy, but this is a crazy night,” Lafontaine said. “I feel great because Jordan pulled through. I knew he would win the series.”
After mounted police cleared the area, the Division Street party petered out around 12:30 a.m.
At the United Center, nearly 18,000 fans filled the stadium, cheering every basket and groaning the many missed shots. Fans roared when the win was secured.
Said Jesus Garza: “I came all the way from Mexico to see this game. I love the Bulls. Believe it or not, I learned how to speak English by watching the Bulls.”
The next celebrations will take place Tuesday. City officials said a victory rally for the Bulls would be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park. But the park will be closed to the public until 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Assistant Deputy Supt. Charles Roberts said that in the West Side confrontation, six men in the car were told to leave the area but instead drove at several officers–running their car up on the sidewalk. Five of them were injured when officers opened fire.
Police had prepared for the night by putting 8,000 officers on the streets.
In the first minutes after the game, police said, the number of emergency calls shot up. Two hours after the game, police had logged 4,368 calls, up roughly 30 percent from the 3,206 calls after the 1997 victory.
