59 shot, 7 fatally in Chicago weekend shootings
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Shootings across the city of Chicago this past weekend have left seven people dead and another 52 people wounded.
One of the most recent shootings occurred in the city's Englewood neighborhood.
Cornelius Jordan, 21, was driving along 6900-block of South Wentworth Avenue around 10 p.m. Sunday when someone in a sliver sedan pulled up to his vehicle, shooting both him and his 20-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Chicago police said.
Jordan was pronounced dead at the scene. His girlfriend was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the left arm, police said.
Jordan was not only a son, a brother and the father of a little boy, he was everything to the people that are grieving his loss.
"Yesterday when he left my house I told him, 'be careful.' He told me 'Ma, I'll be back.' Those were the last words I had with my son," said Wanda Jordan, Cornelius' mother.
"He was a hard worker. Dependable and had a big heart, and he was caring," said Jammie Jordan," Cornelius' father.
Investigators placed down several evidence markers Sunday night on Bloomingdale Avenue near Central Avenue in the city's Austin neighborhood. That's where police said two men walked up to another man sitting in a parked car and started shooting.
The 21-year-old man was shot twice and rushed to the hospital where he later died. Another woman was injured, but was treated and released.
RELATED: 7 injured in shooting near Douglas Park playground on West Side
The shooting was one of multiple that took place over the past weekend, including two mass shootings in one police district.
One, a drive-by in Douglas Park that wounded seven people and another in the 1800-block of South Kildare Avenue where one person died and eight others injured.
Investigators believe the shooting on Kildare Avenue stemmed from a basketball game earlier in the day where police recovered three weapons and had been forced to disperse the crowd, which only reassembled after they left.
Demetrius Flowers, 33, was killed in the incident.
"It's got to stop," said Keith Flowers, the victim's father. "This senseless killing has got to stop. These kids are dying in the streets and now my son has become one of the statistics."
Monday morning, Chicago police released audio of the shooting.
"That audio was horrific. It was ridiculous and it's not normal. It's not normal at all, and it really irritates that little kids that grow up in those challenged areas think that's normal," Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
Two hours earlier, a shooting in Douglas Park left seven people injured after detectives said the passenger in a black Camaro engaged a group in a gun battle.
This past weekend left Chicago police officers and city-wide emergency rooms stretched to the limit. Mt. Sinai Hospital in Douglas Park was forced to go on bypass for several hours. Sunday night, an additional 50 officers were brought into the 10th District alone.
"As a city we have to stand up and do a hell of a lot more than we've done in a very long time," said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Lightfoot said she spent part of the weekend on the city's West Side in areas in desperate need of resources.
"It's shameful and I can't say the things that I saw on Saturday are things that I have even the capacity to process yet," she said. "I left this area on Saturday night feeling devastated and heartbroken but also determined to make a difference."
Lightfoot said it's time to approach this from a different perspective with more than just law enforcement.
"We've spent over the years probably hundreds of millions of dollars policing on the West Side, CPD, federal and state law enforcement and we have barely moved the needle," Lightfoot said.
Monday afternoon, Johnson said common sense solutions need to be enacted to stop shootings in Chicago and around the country.
"We will continue to point our resources to push back against the proliferation of guns contributing to the violent loss of life throughout our city," Johnson said.
Johnson spoke at a press conference where Chicago police announced a new database to keep track of Chicago gun offenders.
Over the last three months there have been 1,100 gun arrests and 65% of those people arrested are out on bond. Johnson said he wants all Chicago residents to see the data in the Gun Offender Dashboard.
"We have to let them know there's going to be some accountability, and right now I don't think we have that because we are seeing the same people," Johnson said.
CPD also shared that over the last 18 months of those arrested with gun charges, a third were re-arrested and some were re-arrested on another gun charge.
On Saturday, a man was fatally shot outside his home in Englewood on the South Side.
Calvin Seay, 23, was outside his home about 1:30 p.m. in the 7300-block of South Stewart Street when someone in a gray vehicle pulled up and shot at him, police and the medical examiner's office said.
Seay was hit in the head and chest and taken to University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead less than half an hour later, authorities said.
Before dawn, a man was shot to death in West Garfield Park.
About 2:25 a.m., Johnny Parris, 23, was in a vehicle in the 4600-block of West Monroe Street when someone unleashed gunfire, police and the medical examiner's office said.
He was hit in the chest and taken to Stroger Hospital where he later died, police said.
A 28-year-old man who was standing outside of the vehicle was hit in the leg and taken to the same hospital, police said. His condition was stabilized.
A couple of hours earlier, another double shooting left a 19-year-old man dead in Fernwood on the South Side.
Joshua Smith was found with a gunshot wound to the back about midnight near an alley by the Imperial Motel in the first block of West 103rd Street, police and the medical examiner's office said. He was taken to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn where he was pronounced dead.
A 36-year-old man was also struck by a bullet in the incident, police said. He was walking when he saw a large group of people outside and heard gunfire. He was hit in the leg and taken to the same hospital where his condition was stabilized.
On Friday, a toddler was hurt in a shooting after a physical altercation between three people in Englewood on the South Side.
About 7:18 p.m., a woman, 33, got into a physical altercation with a 28-year-old woman in the hallway of a residence in the 6700-block of South Parnell Avenue and was stabbed in the left arm, police said.
Following the altercation, a 34-year-old man was leaving the residence with the woman who was stabbed when a 29-year-old man followed them out the door and stabbed the older man in the right arm, police said.
The 29-year-old man then went to the second floor of the residence, got a gun and fired shots outside a window toward a vehicle driven by the two people who were stabbed, police said. A bullet struck a 5-year-old boy who was in the vehicle in the left thigh.
He was taken to Comer Children's Hospital where his condition was stabilized, police said.
At least 30 others were wounded in citywide shootings from 5 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
Gun violence in Chicago last weekend left eight people dead and 40 others hurt.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
