Chicago shootings: 55 shot, 5 fatally, in weekend violence across city
CHICAGO (WLS) -- From an 11-year-old girl shot in the back while sitting in a relative's car on the Far South Side, to a woman caught in between an exchange of gunfire while crossing the street at Wells and Ontario in River North, it was yet another violent weekend in Chicago with more than 55 people injured and five murdered since 6 p.m. Friday.
One Chicago shooting attracting national attention occurred at about 4 a.m. Sunday when at least eight people were wounded around after someone fired into a crowd at a party in the 8900-block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Burnside. Six men and two women were among the injured, with more than half in serious to critical condition.
"There were a lot of people and a lot of shooting, so they did not know where to run or where to hide," said Pastor Donovan Price.
Price said he was listening to calls over the police scanner and went to the scene.
"There were people coming up that were shot in the leg, and this and that," Price said. 'Some people even shot and walking around. It is so chaotic. Everyone is looking for people. What hospital did they go to?"
He and other Chicago pastors united on the city's South Side Monday evening, heartbroken over the violence from this past weekend.
"I say to Chicago, whatever it is you do. If you pray, then pray," Price said. "But somebody, for God's sake, do something."
Supt. Brown gives update on Chicago shootings
After a grim weekend, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown sought to provide context for the number of shootings taking place in Chicago by insisting things are getting better, despite what he calls "fits and starts."
"Revenge, retaliation, will never be enough to satisfy you," Brown said. "It can only destroy more lives."
Fortunately, the 11-year-old girl is now out of the hospital. Her mother said she was in town from Iowa visiting cousins for the weekend getting her hair done. The girl was meant to have returned home Monday.
The shooting took place just steps from the Kids off the Block Memorial in West Pullman, where more than 600 stones each represent a child killed by gun violence in the city.
"Come walk these streets. These streets are not grey. They're bloody streets. Bloody streets and we're tired of it," crisis responder Andrew Holmes said.
At a news conference Monday morning, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said the department is working to recover guns to prevent violence, but that there needs to be consequences in the court system for illegal gun possession.
"The courts render a verdict, they set a bond and a bail, so illegal gun possession...drives violence. Every gun recovered is a chance not to have that gun used in a violent incident. But also, the consequence in the courts is the other part of the formula that we want to see more of, Brown said.
Brown blamed most of this weekend's violence on the city's gangs.
"This idea of an eye for an eye, leaves us both blind," he said.
The city's top cop sought to paint an improving picture of the violence, revealing that while murders are up 5%, and shootings are up 17% so far this year, they are now starting to trend downward.
"With fits and starts obviously. Up and down. Up and down. Our challenge is we need to trail off in the summer," Brown said.
The challenge is a significant one. Brown said that while Chicago's police department is the second largest in the country, CPD has fewer new officers than usual as COVID restrictions reduced class sizes in the police academy.
More than 30 of the weekend's 58 shooting victims were attacked in police districts that have been leading the city in homicides: Austin, Englewood, Harrison, Ogden, Calumet and Gresham.
In all, it was the most shootings for a weekend this year, though others have been deadlier. Five people died, compared to 12 over a weekend toward the end of May.
In between the two weekends was a relatively calm Memorial Day weekend, when three people were killed and 34 were wounded. The Chicago Police Department had canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts.
More weekend shootings across Chicago
- Around 9 p.m. Sunday, witnesses told officers someone opened fire from a red car in the 11700 block of South Michigan and shot an 11-year-old girl in the lower back. A family member drove her to Roseland Community Hospital, where she was listed in serious condition.
A nearby resident said she heard the shots from inside their home. She told her young children to get away from the windows and get on the floor.
Ashley Santiago and her family say shootings in the area are "an everyday thing, without fail. It doesn't matter what time of day it is."
"We can't really let our kids come out and come play because stuff like this is happening," she said.
- Eight people were wounded Sunday morning when gunmen opened fire in Burnside on the South Side. The group was standing on the sidewalk about 4 a.m. when two people in a silver car opened fire in the 8900 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, police and fire officials said.
Six of the victims were taken in critical condition to hospitals, fire officials said. Two others were transported in good condition.
- A man was killed in West Englewood Saturday on the South Side. The 26-year-old was on the street about 4:50 p.m. in the 6400 block of South Hoyne Avenue when someone fired shots from a vehicle, Chicago police said.
The man was struck in the chest, hip and neck, police said. He was pronounced dead at Holy Cross Hospital.
- Earlier, a man was killed and another wounded in a shooting in Austin on the West Side. Officers found Gerald Collymore, 39, unresponsive about 1:30 a.m. with gunshot wounds to his head and chest in the 1300 block of North Mayfield Avenue, police said. He was pronounced dead the scene.
A 26-year-old man was hit in the ankle and went to West Suburban Hospital. He was transferred to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was in fair condition, police said.
- On Friday, a man was killed in another shooting in Austin, police said. Michael Cooper was in a backyard in the 5200 block of West Le Moyne Street when someone approached and opened fire about 7:25 p.m., striking him in the head, authorities said. The 23-year-old was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
- A man was fatally shot in West Englewood on the South Side, police said. Jermaine Sanders, 27, was on the sidewalk in the 5600 block of South Marshfield Avenue about 9:20 p.m. Friday when someone fired from a white sedan, authorities said. He was struck in the head and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
- Less than an hour later, a man was found fatally shot in University Village on the Near West Side. Latrell Goodwin, 24, was found with gunshot wounds to his head and chest in a car about 10 p.m. in the 1300 block of West Roosevelt Road, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Sun-Times Media Report contributed to this article.
