Memorial Day Weekend Violence Down In Chicago Compared To Last Year
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Six people were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and at least 44 other people were wounded in Chicago shootings throughout the Memorial Day weekend.
The most recent fatal shooting happened about 2:50 a.m. Tuesday in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side. A 21-year-old man was sitting inside a vehicle in the 5700 block of South Prairie when someone fired shots, striking him multiple times, including "once in the back through his heart," according to Chicago Police. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County medical examiner's office has not provided information on the fatality.
About 9:50 p.m. Monday, 17-year-old Jaywan Freeman was killed and two other people were wounded in a shooting in the South Side Englewood neighborhood. Freeman, another 17-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man were standing in the street in the 6900 block of South Harvard when a male approached them and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Freeman was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. The other teenage boy was shot in the left shoulder and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, and the 20-year-old man went to Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Both of their conditions were stabilized.
About four hours earlier, an 18-year-old man was shot to death in the Longwood Manor neighborhood on the South Side. He was shot in the head about 5:40 p.m. in the 9800 block of South Wallace and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. His identity has not been released. Witnesses told police that an unknown male fired multiple shots at the man.
A 52-year-old man was killed in a domestic-related shooting at 1:32 p.m. Sunday in the West Side Austin neighborhood. Oscar L. Clay got into an argument with a 27-year-old man in the 1700 block of North Narragansett when the younger man pulled out a handgun and shot him, authorities said. Clay, who lived in the same neighborhood, was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:45 p.m. The shooter is not in custody.
Earlier Sunday, two people were found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide in the South Side Bronzeville neighborhood. Tiara Goodman, 25, and a 32-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, were found about 10:50 a.m. in the hallway of an apartment building in the 2900 block of South State, near the Dearborn Homes housing project, authorities said. Both had been shot in the head and were pronounced dead at the scene. A gun was recovered at the scene.
The 15-year-old boy was killed about 6:30 p.m. Sunday in a Lawndale neighborhood drive-by shooting that also left a 16-year-old girl wounded on the Southwest Side. The two teenagers were in a gangway in the 1600 block of South St. Louis when someone fired shots at them from a passing gray vehicle, authorities said. The boy was shot in the back and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died. His name has not yet been released. The girl suffered a graze wound to the back and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.
Two men were wounded in a drive-by shooting at 1:24 a.m. Monday outside a BP gas station in the Archer Heights neighborhood on the Southwest Side. The men, ages 21 and 22, were driving south in the 4500 block of South Pulaski when someone in a dark-colored SUV fired shots in their direction, police said. The younger man was shot in the right knee, while the older man suffered a gunshot wound to the right leg. They were both taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where their conditions were stabilized.
"This is sad, man," said the 37-year-old cashier at the gas station, who asked to remain anonymous. "I'm sick of seeing this s–t. I wish it would just end already, this violence is not necessary."
At least 39 other people were shot in Chicago between 7 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Monday.
This year's holiday weekend was less violent than last year's.
In 2016, 69 people were shot, six of them fatally, by the end of the long holiday weekend, which is widely viewed as the unofficial start of summer — with an accompanying surge in city gun violence. Twelve people were killed and 43 wounded over 2015's holiday.
To combat this year's carnage, Chicago Police flooded the streets with 1,300 extra patrol officers through early Tuesday.
That happens to be about the same number of people who have been shot in the city so far this year: 1,338, according to Chicago Sun-Times data. Of those, 229 have died.
From Sunday night into Monday morning, 30 people were arrested in an anti-violence initiative across the city, according to a statement from police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Seven illegal guns were seized and more than 40 traffic citations were issued.
Seventy-seven people were arrested Saturday night into Sunday morning, Guglielmi said. Ten illegal guns were seized and 176 traffic citations were issued.
On Friday night, 53 people were arrested, including 30 who were arrested during pre-emptive raids. Four illegal guns were seized and more than 70 traffic citations were issued.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2017. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
