7 Dead, At Least 21 Wounded In Weekend Shootings, Police Say

One of the fatal shootings led to a shootout with police officers Sunday afternoon in the South Deering neighborhood on the city's Far South Side, authorities said.

About 12:45 p.m., a man was fatally shot and a woman wounded in the 9800 block of South Merrill Avenue, police said. The man -- identified as Michael White, 30, of the 9800 block of South Merrill Avenue -- died at Advocate Trinity Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

Shortly after the shooting, a description of a suspect was broadcasted over police radios, said Fraternal Order of Police union spokesman Pat Camden. Officers saw a man matching the description in an alley in the 2200 block of East 97th Street and tried taking him into custody, police said.

The man pulled out a gun and fired shots at the officers, who then returned gunfire, the Chicago Police Department claimed in a statement, adding that the suspect was taken into custody after he tried fleeing.

No officers were injured, Camden said, and investigators recovered a weapon.

The suspect, believed to be in his mid-30s, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Camden said, and his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

Authorities said three other men were also fatally shot on Sunday.

Two men, ages 28 and 30, were both shot in the head in the 9400 block of South Rhodes Avenue about 5:30 p.m., police said.

A 23-year-old woman was also shot and suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach, police said, adding that she was listed in critical condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

About the same time as the three people were shot, a 23-year-old man was shot in the back of the head in the 8600 block of South Kingston Avenue, police said.

Paramedics took the man to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he later died, the medical examiner's office said. His name was being withheld as authorties notify his family.

About 3:05 a.m., Denzell Williams, 21, was walking with relatives in the 0 to 100 block of North Central Avenue when a gunman approached and opened fire, police said. Williams, of the 5600 block of West Washington Boulevard, was shot multiple times in the chest and was dead at the scene, authorities said.

On Saturday, a 36-year-old man was shot in the head in the Garfield Park neighborhood. Claude Snulligan was discovered about 11:31 a.m. by police officers who were responding to a call of a man down in the 0 to 100 block of South Pulaski Road, authorities said.

Snulligan, of the 1600 block of South Drake Avenue, was pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner's office said.

On Friday afternoon, an 18-year-old was fatally shot during an apparent robbery in the South Deering neighborhood.

Terrance Wright was walking near the intersection of 99th Street and Yates Avenue when he was shot in the chest about 3:40 p.m., authorities said. Witnesses told police they saw about five people attempting to rob Wright before he was shot, police said.

Wright, of the 5000 block of South Carpenter Street, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was later pronounced dead, the medical examiner's office said. Police had been talking to two persons of interest but they were released from custody on Saturday.

Among the 21 people wounded in weekend shootings was a teenage boy who was shot in the head while he and his father fought over a gun, police said.

The 17-year-old boy tried taking the gun away from his father about 5 p.m. in the 1300 block of West Estes Avenue, police said. The boy was listed in critical condition at an area hospital.