City officials are calling the E2 stampede the largest loss of life and greatest tragedy to happen in Chicago since the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 in 1979, which killed 273 people.

Even a week after the horrific events took place, it’s still hard to grasp that 21 people were killed in a mad dash to escape chemical substances being used for crowd control. It’s even harder to fathom that security guards allegedly blocked the exit, which in turn caused the massive pile of bodies.

And to top it all off, the city of Chicago knew the club was dangerous, and ordered it to shut down.

But, even in the aftermath of such a gruesome and all-too-real incident, the parties involved have already begun pointing fingers and assigning blame. The city claims the club was operating illegally. A court order was issued last July to ban any use of the building’s second floor, where the incident supposedly originated.

Andre Grant, an attorney for E2’s operators, Le Mirage Inc., maintained that it was only the E2 VIP balcony that was supposed to be off-limits. They point out that the club continued to operate, advertise events and run announcements for parties: If the city was so upset, why didn’t it shut them down?

Grant claimed the city’s attorneys had agreed to permit the continued use of the second floor last fall. Police paid at least 80 visits to the club on unrelated business after the court order, and no call was ever made to shut down the facility.

The owners and operators, though, are also blaming the promoter. After all, it was allegedly security guards for the promoter who sprayed the chemical that sparked the stampede.

Some are even blaming the Rev. Jesse Jackson. After all, it was just last spring that the city sought to shut E2 down following a string of shootings in front of the building. But then activists (one of whom was Jackson) jumped to the club’s defense, saying the club and its owners should not be penalized for what happens outside the club. Jackson, by the way, is a family friend of Dwain Kyles, one of E2’s owners.

The rigamarole is starting to sound suspiciously like the Chicago “blame game.”

“It’s not our fault—blame the city!” say the owners.

“It’s not our fault—blame the club!” says the city.

“It’s not our fault—blame the promoters!” say the owners.

The only ones who don’t seem to be passing the buck are the 21 dead young people who had no idea they were in danger in the early hours of Feb. 17.

It’s time to do the right thing. It’s time to fess up. Those involved must come forward to admit to what went wrong. Otherwise, we are powerless to prevent it from happening again. Too many fingers are being pointed between the owners, the promoters, the owners’ lawyers, the city, the security guards, the activists, the inspectors, the police, the city’s lawyers…

The runaround in this case is absolutely intolerable. Twenty-one lives were taken by foolishness, carelessness, and complete disregard for any of the warnings brought out against this establishment.

To the families and friends of the victims: If you want to sue these people for something expensive, if you want to extract real pain, sue for an admission of fault.

In Chicago, that’s what seems to be worth more than gold.