Man fatally stabbed outside Near West Side liquor store

 21-year-old man was fatally stabbed late Sunday in what Chicago police suspect may have been an internal gang dispute, authorities said. The stabbing occurred just after 8 p.m. in front of a liquor store in the 200 block of South Western Avenue in the city's Near West Side. Officers responding to a large fight discovered the victim lying on the street with a single stab wound to the chest, police said, citing early reports. The victim, whose identity was withheld pending family notification, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy is scheduled for later today. Police believe that the victim and his attacker may have been members of the area street gang and that the stabbing may have been due to an internal disagreement, according to a police source. Street gangs often police themselves, doling out punishments ranging from beatings to murder when members step out of line with their leadership, the source noted. Police were following leads, though most of the crowd present before and during the fatal attack had fled by the time police arrived, the source said. No arrests had been made as Central Area detectives continued their investigation.

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