After Auburn Gresham mass shooting, residents demand more resources to combat violence

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Member of the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Chicago's South Side came together Thursday to demand more resources to combat violence following a mass shooting that injured 15 people outside a funeral home Tuesday.

Residents of all ages gathered to demand elected officials provide more funding for affordable housing, jobs with fair wages, education and mental health services.

Chicago shooting at funeral home injures 15 in Auburn Gresham; 'We thought it was a war,' witness says

"We thought it was war," witnesses said of the Tuesday evening shooting outside a funeral home.

"We have entirely too much representation at every level of government for our communities to have suffered the neglect that they have suffered," said Tanesha Peeples, Black Community Collaborative.

Peeples has lived on the city's South Side her whole life, and like so many was stunned by Tuesday night's mass shooting, just steps from where the group held their rally on 79th Street.

"We believe in order to stop the violence in our community, everything has to come together," said Natasha Dunn, Black Community Collaborative co-founder. "It's not silos. It's not education here, it's not economics over there, it's not crime there. Everybody needs to be held accountable."

Police said the mass shooting was an act of gang retaliation. The search for the shooters continue, and as it does there's concern violence will only get worse as the pandemic continues to make children more susceptible to street and gang violence, ultimately becoming victims themselves.

Anyone with information about the mass shooting is asked to contact Area 2 detectives at (312) 747-8271 and anonymous tips can be sent to CPDtip.com.