Uptown Residents Urged To Stand Up To Violence
CHICAGO (CBS) - A local blog is urging residents of the Uptown neighborhood to stand up against continued shootings and gunfire around the area.
The Uptown Update blog encouraged "everyone who is concerned about this uptick in the gang violence" to attend their CAPS community policing meetings, "and hear what the police have to say about what's been going on and see what, if anything, we as a community can do to try to counteract it."
The blog also urged neighbors to voice their concerns to elected officials or "aspiring office holders" who might attend the meetings. Both of the aldermen representing Uptown, Helen Shiller (46th) and Mary Ann Smith (48th) are retiring at the end of their current terms next year.
Uptown Update readers have reported hearing gunfire in several places in recent days. Neighbors reported hearing multiple shots near Wilson Avenue and Sheridan Road at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, and shots near Racine and Montrose avenues around 1:30 a.m. Monday.
These incidents come on the heels of a Halloween incident, in which three teenagers were shot and critically wounded as children trick-or-treated in broad daylight. Families ducked behind parked cars for safety as the shots rang out near Montrose and Magnolia avenues.
"At that moment, there's nothing you can do," neighbor Chris Korn told CBS 2's Mai Martinez last week. "You just have to try to get out of the way, and you're just hopeful that there's not a stray bullet that's going to come get you or your kids."
Two 17-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy were wounded in the shooting, which happened around 5:15 p.m. Oct. 31.
In a separate incident about an hour later that day, a 35-year-old man identified as Marlos Canteberry was shot in the head and killed a few blocks away in the 1000 block of West Sunnyside Avenue.
Uptown Update advises neighbors to go to their CAPS meetings for the three Town Hall District beats that cover the affected areas: Beat 2311, which meets tonight (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. at Truman College, 1145 W. Wilson Ave.; Beat 2313, which meets tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7 p.m. at the Clarendon Park Fieldhouse, 4501 N. Clarendon Ave.; and Beat 2312, which meets Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Café Too Engagement Center, 4715 N. Sheridan Rd.
