Fatal canopy collapse at Club Hawthorne Chicago’s Pullman off-track betting facility, killing Randy Pate

CHICAGO (WLS) – One man was killed and another was injured after a canopy collapsed over a garage on Wednesday at an off-track betting site in Pullman on the Far South Side.

Firefighters furiously dug up the snow as fast as they could, and at the same time struggled to saw through the collapsed canopy of Club Hawthorne Chicago, 11203 Corliss Avenue.

“The canopy had about a foot and a half of snow that accumulated at the top,” said Jamar Sullivan, Head of the Special Operations Department at the Chicago Fire Department.

Rescuers were desperate to reach a man trapped under metal, wood and heavy snow. They pulled a man out from under the snow-covered canopy just before 5 pm on Wednesday.

The 54-year-old man was rushed to the Advocate Christ Medical Center in a “very critical” state, where firefighters said he died shortly afterwards. He was identified by his family as Randy Pate.

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“I just got a call saying my nephew was on the race track and in a very bad shape and that’s all I know,” said Leslie Murdoch, the victim’s uncle.

“We should see each other. I was going up there,” said Marnell, a friend of the victim. “I know they say we all have to go sometime, but is he leaving so soon? Uh uh. No, no. No way, I don’t eat.”

Pate’s family and friends ran to the place they say he loves, but he was stuck for a long time. He did not survive the trip to the hospital. His loved ones said that he should never have followed that path.

“A structure like this, where there is so much snow on top, is not designed like that for a long period of time,” said Sullivan.

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A second person, a 59-year-old man, was also injured and is in serious condition.

The canopy collapsed at the rear of the building, firefighters said. The main building was not impacted.

Several roofs have collapsed under the heavy snowfall in recent days.

After several roofs collapsed on Tuesday on the south side, firefighters warned that the problems would continue, saying “we can expect more roof failures with heavy snow loads and sub-zero temperatures”, noting that most of the affected buildings had about 100 years.

Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.