Police on Saturday night blanketed the vicinity of where the disturbance took place, a far cry from Friday's chaos, hoping their presence will serve as a deterrent for gatherings. Mayor Brandon Johnson Saturday said those responsible for Friday night's violence will be held accountable.
However, the alderman of the neighborhood wants to go a step further, calling for a change in city law that he believes could stop these violent gatherings from happening in the first place.
Officers were already on patrol just after 9:40 p.m. Friday in the 400-block of North City Front Plaza Drive, when they say they saw a large group of teenagers running away from the scene. That's when police found the 15-year-old on the ground, with a graze wound to his leg.
He was taken to Lurie Children's Hospital, where he is listed in good condition, police said.
No one is in custody. It was not immediately clear what led up to the gunfire.
Video shows large crowds of teenagers throughout the area before the shooting, and 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins said hundreds of teenagers took over the nearby streets for nearly four hours.
"They were blocking traffic," Hopkins said. "Jumping on cars. Harassing pedestrians, stealing from the stores, there were several fights. Tasers were deployed."
Hopkins said at least 12 people were arrested, including several minors. The violent outbreak came on the last week of Spring Break for Chicago students.
The incident also comes just a few days after a town hall to discuss safety and gun violence in the area, after a tourist was shot near the AMC theater there earlier this month. She was not the intended target.
The mayor's comments on Friday's violence came during an event Saturday at Navy Pier directed at teenagers, providing those from at-risk neighborhoods with something to do and connecting them to resources for jobs and other activities. It is more of this the mayor believes will go a long way to preventing outbursts like Friday night, which he says is still being investigated.
"The reckless and dangerous behavior that was exhibited last night, no one wants to see that and we're not going to tolerate it," Mayor Johnson said.
Johnson reacted to Friday night's so-called teen takeover in Streeterville, where dozens of teen congregated.
"Our local police department is currently investigating that incident," Johnson said. "All those who caused chaos will be held accountable."
On Saturday, the city hosted its fourth annual "My CHI. My Future. Teen Bash" event at Navy Pier.
"Violence is the language of the unheard," said Daniella Pollard, a mother of six. "And one of the things that I think I did extremely well... I gave them space to be themselves to be fully expressed. To be seen and heard, so they don't have a need or a desire to go out and express themselves in that way because they don't feel locked up."
It's estimated between 1,000 and 1,500 teens came out to participate in the Navy Pier event.
"It's so fun, there are so many things that I can do," teen bash participant Dylan Taylor said. "So much of a variety. And then there's food a lot of drinks that I can have."
Some in Chicago City Council said what's needed is a change in the city's curfew for minors from the current 10 p.m. to 8 p.m.
This coming Wednesday, Ald. Hopkins plans to introduce a proposal tochange the city's curfew for minors in the Central Business District, if they're not with an adult. Friday's shooting is just the latest incident bringing public safety concerns into the spotlight.
"At least six were taken into custody immediately, and that had a quelling effect," Hopkins said. "The other teens saw that happening and didn't want to take that risk and started to disperse... It's an extraordinarily difficult thing to do to contain 300 teenagers when you only have around 60 police officers. We need all the help we can get and we need to be backed by the law."
Mayor Johnson opposes that idea of an earlier curfew, saying enforcement of the current curfew is enough.
The mayor's office released the following statement Saturday evening:
"No one wants to see the reckless and dangerous behavior that was exhibited last night and we are not going to tolerate that in our city. Our police department is currently investigating the incident, and all those who have caused chaos will be held accountable.
"We continue to have a serious problem with guns in our city. These guns do not come from Chicago. Just last year, we removed 12,000 guns from the streets of Chicago, but we must do more to stop the endless flow of weapons into our city.
"As far as the neighborhood curfew is concerned, I am not in favor of the proposal because it would just displace these young people into the nearest neighborhood. It's not productive to shift the problem to the next community over. What we have to do is enforce the current citywide curfew law that we already have in place before we consider additional measures.
"And we need to make sure that there are additional safe spaces for our young people this spring and summer. We are calling on our City Department, our civic community, our business community, our philanthropic community, and our faith community to lean in and keep working with us to create even more spaces and opportunities for our young people this year."
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