Four people were killed and 14 others wounded in a "deplorable and cowardly" mass shooting in Chicago on Wednesday night, according to the police superintendent.

The drive-by shooting apparently happened as people left Artis Lounge nightclub following an album release party for rapper Mello Buckzz.

Four people were killed and 14 more were hospitalized in a drive-by mass shooting late on Wednesday, July 2, police in Chicago said. Three of the victims are in critical condition. Someone opened fire into a crowd standing outside a venue in Chicago's River North neighborhood at about 11 p.m., police said, and the black SUV immediately drove away.