Two Teenagers Critically Wounded When Bullets Pierce Kitchen Window On South Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 17-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy were critically wounded early Friday, when bullets came flying through the kitchen window of a home on the South Side.
Police said the victims were standing in the kitchen of a home near 87th and Princeton, when shots were fired outside shortly after 2 a.m., and both teens were wounded.
A 17-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy both were shot in the chest. They were in critical condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
No one was in custody Friday morning. Area South detectives were investigating.
The violence comes ahead of what police hope is a much calmer weekend, compared to last week, when 66 people were shot between Friday evening and Sunday night.
The area where the two teens were shot is part of the Chicago Police Department's Gresham District, one of five districts that has been flooded with extra officers in the wake of the most violent weekend of the year in Chicago.
Earlier this week, police announced 430 officers were being added to weekday patrols in the Calumet, Gresham, Ogden, Harrison, and Austin districts – the five areas on the South and West sides hardest hit by shootings in Chicago. On weekends, those five districts will get 600 extra officers.
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Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said 20 percent of last weekend's shootings stemmed from "large, unsanctioned street parties" tied to street gangs, which attracted violence from rival gangs.
Some of the extra officers being redeployed on the South and West sides will focus on breaking up large gatherings in 30 "emergency hot spot dispersal zones" where such street parties have commonly occurred.
"At the end of the day, we can't have another weekend like we had last weekend, and we are not in the business of trying to arrest people for trying to enjoy the warmer weather. So, when police officers spot these large gatherings, we are going to ask individuals to move on," Johnson said earlier this week.
Police said, if people at large gatherings do not comply with orders to move on, they could be arrested. Johnson said it's a matter of public health and safety.
"The goal is not to be out there arresting people because they're trying to enjoy summertime. That's not the goal, but once we say it's time to move on, then it's time to move on. We also need the community's help to let us know where these large gatherings occur, because we want everyone to be safe," Johnson said.
The superintendent said community outreach officers would work with people who have permitted block parties.
