Activists call for more accountability after Washington Park mass shooting

Updated 2 hours ago
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Fifteen people were shot in Chicago park this weekend. One group was having a picnic when bullets starting flying.

it was one of several shootings across the city, with 41 people hurt and 3 killed from Friday evening to Sunday.



A group trying to stop the violence called the weekend a setback.

"You saw trauma, people hurt, people don't know if their families were wounded," Pastor Sandie Norman, of Life Beyond Limit Inc.



Several questions remain after chaotic moments unfolded in Washington Park near 54th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue Saturday night.

Dozens of people gathered for a reunion of the former Robert Taylor Homes.

Police responded shortly before midnight after gunfire erupted. One person was killed and 14 others were left injured.

The man killed has been identified as 35-year-old Rontonio Guterz, who has an extensive criminal history. It's unclear if he was the intended target.

Pastor Norman said she responded to area following the mass shooting and believes more should have been done to prevent this from happening.



"I really want to speak to the shooters. You know what you're doing is wrong. You know you don't get a pass to kill people and go into these large gatherings shooting innocent people," Pastor Norman said. "We have a tendency to normalize 15 people that have been shot one day and the by tomorrow the issue goes away. And it should be more accountability."

Mayor Brandon Johnson also addressed the shooting this weekend.

"Every time an act of violence at this scale, every time they happen, it's horrific," Johnson said. "It reiterates my commitment that we are removing illegal weapons from the streets of Chicago."

So far, there have been no arrests in this mass shooting.

In response to the violent weekend, community health organization, Acclivus Inc. will host an event Tuesday to help victims and their families.



That's taking place at their office on 54th and Wentworth from 2-6 p.m.

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