2 dead, 13 wounded in Chicago shootings over Memorial Day Weekend

0 0 Julius Choudhury May 27, 2018 Edit this post

By Deanese Williams-Harris, Rosemary Sobol, Hannah Leone, Peter Nickeas, Chicago Tribune

Shootings from Saturday morning through early Sunday left at least 15 wounded, two fatally, according to authorities.

The shootings brought the Memorial Day weekend shooting total to at least 23 shot, four fatally.

An 18-year-old woman was shot and killed in the 800 block of East 49th Street in Bronzeville just after 9 p.m. Saturday. A witness told police she was shot in the chest after someone dropped a gun and it discharged, according to police. The person handling the firearm fled the scene and detectives are investigating it as a homicide.

Neighbors at the large brick apartment building where the woman was shot said the community is usually calm. But Saturday night, a large group of teenagers gathered on the pavement outside. Several boys stood around a gold car. Other teens sat on the curb. Some cried.

“She didn’t do nothing,” said one of the girls who was crying.

A 29-year-old man was shot in the legs in the Austin neighborhood Sunday morning about 3:30 a.m. He was in front of a building in the 4800 block of W. Washington Boulevard when two people stepped out of a gray minivan and opened fire before fleeing in the same van. The 29-year-old was taken to Stroger Hospital where his condition had been stabilized.

Another 29-year-old man was shot in the Grand Crossing neighborhood about 2:40 a.m. He told police that he heard shots and felt pain while he was in the 7100 block of S. King Drive. He was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where his condition had stabilized.

Shortly after 2:05 a.m. in the 3500 block of West Wilson Avenue in Albany Park, police said a 21-year-old man inside a vehicle was shot in the back of his head by someone in another vehicle. Police said he was stable at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

About 1:15 a.m. Sunday in Englewood, a 29-year-old man was shot four times in the abdomen while inside a car in the 800 block of West Garfield Boulevard. He was taken to University of Chicago Hospital in serious condition. Police first said he was 18.

After the shooting, he got out of the car, police said. Officers found him behind a building on the east side of Halsted Street, north of Garfield.

With yellow tape, police constructed two crime scenes: One surrounding the area where the man was found, another where he was shot.

A gray sedan stopped facing east toward Halsted on the south branch of Garfield Boulevard had dented doors on its passenger side. At a Shell gas station on the southwest corner of the intersection, a man working at the convenience store, Mohammed Khan, said he was helping a customer when he heard at least five or six gunshots. Khan said he looked outside and saw the car, but didn’t see anyone apparently involved in the shooting.

At a gyro restaurant northeast of the intersection, a man said he’d been mopping the floor of the main business area when he heard 10 to 12 gunshots, “pop-pop-pop-pop-pop,” and retreated behind the counter.

Around 12:20 a.m. Sunday in the 5200 block of South Loomis Street in Back of the Yards, a 19-year-old man was shot in the foot. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital and was in good condition. Police said no description of the shooter was given.

An on-duty Chicago police sergeant was grazed when someone in one SUV fired toward another. She’s in good condition.

A shooting downtown in the West Loop Gate neighborhood left a 27-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his arms and buttocks. The attack happened about 9:45 p.m. in the first block of South Clinton Street outside Fitness Formula Club near Presidential Towers.

A friend of the victim tied two tourniquets around his arms and asked him to stand. He did. He then went limp. His friend kept saying, “It’s OK man. You’re OK. I’ve been shot before. You’re OK.” Police didn’t release details about the man’s condition or which hospital he was taken to.

Two men and one woman were shot in the 5800 block of South Indiana Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhood about 8:35 p.m. A 19-year-old man, an 18-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman were all taken in serious-to-critical condition to University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago Fire Department Chief Juan Hernandez said.

Around the same time, a 20-year-old woman was shot in the 800 block of West 76th Street in the Gresham neighborhood. She was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. She was walking down the street when someone approached from behind and shot her twice in the back of her head.

A 23-year-old man was shot about 6:05 p.m. in the 300 block of West 113th Street in the Roseland neighborhood, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with a gunshot wound to the leg.

Another man was shot in Roseland around 1:30 p.m. in the 11400 block of South Normal Avenue. The victim told police a man with a dark complexion pulled out a gun and attempted to rob him. When the victim tried to run away, the robber shot him in the leg. He was taken to Roseland Community Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said. The victim described the gunman as about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing around 185 pounds.

A 38-year-old man was shot in the Washington Park neighborhood Saturday about 7 a.m. He was in the 5900 block of South Calumet Avenue when someone in a vehicle shot at him. He was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said.

Chicago Tribune reporter Malika Andrews contributed.