Man Fatally Shot In Uptown
UPDATED 12/05/11 12:56 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police continue to investigate the deadly shooting of an Uptown neighborhood man who was the victim of a gang-related attack.
Edward Clark, 20, was found around 1:55 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the head in the 4700 block of North Winthrop Avenue, police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said. Authorities said he was found on the sidewalk.
Clark was dead on the scene, authorities said.
The shooting is related to gang activity in the area, according to Ald. James Cappleman (46th), who issued an alert to constituents after the shooting.
A neighbor, Joe Gray, posted a video of the aftermath of the shooting on Vimeo.com.
Aftermath Again: Counting the Casings from Joe Gray on Vimeo.
The shooting is related to gang activity in the area, according to Ald. James Cappleman (46th), who issued an alert to constituents after the shooting.
Cappleman said that compared to last year, there is a decrease in shootings in Uptown, "but one shooting is still too many."
He pointed out that recently, some gang members who had been arrested in local drug busts were released from prison. Also, gang members are having a harder time conducting drug sales out in the open, and are tension is rising as they are forced into more compact areas, Cappleman said.
Cappleman said he strongly supports programs to give kids after-school opportunities, and believes the community should be responsible for kids in their neighborhoods who might become involved in violence.
But he emphasized that he does not have the unilateral authority to dispatch more police officers onto the streets, although he meets regularly with the commanders of the Lincoln and Town Hall districts to address issues of crime and safety.
Cappleman said his ward has identified five hot spots for crime in collaboration with police in the area. But out of respect for nearby landlords and business owners who don't want their property values to fall, he is not releasing the locations of the hot spots.
The Uptown Update blog said after the shooting, neighbors heard a second round of gunfire just after 4 a.m. near the gangway of a low-income housing building on Clifton Avenue just north of Montrose Avenue. The blog says "there are numerous gang members and drug dealers living in this building, some with their parents."
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
