Englewood Residents Gather For Vigil, Call For Hope After Mass Shooting Wounded 13 People
CHICAGO (CBS) -- On Monday night, Englewood neighbors rattled by a mass shooting took to the street where it all happened.
They joined community leaders for a moment of encouragement to change the tide of violence. CBS 2's Steven Graves was there, and talked with those who are now traumatized.
Police and prosecutors have said 13 people were wounded early Sunday, when at least two people started "shooting randomly" at 57th and May streets around 12:30 a.m.
The shooting happened at a memorial party for 22-year-old Lonell Irvin, who was shot and killed when he tried to carjack a 41-year-old man in April.
Less than 48 hours later, there was a different type of gathering on May Street with moments of prayer and unity.
"Things are hopeful. Things are joyous. Things are courageous," said Pastor Donovan Price.
It was a stark contrast to chaos and calamity that Price himself saw firsthand.
"There was fear. There was anger - all of those things plus blood," Price said.
"I was shocked," added Felicia March.
March remembers the fury of gunshots that woke her out of her sleep Saturday night.
"I want to see what can be done to stop the violence," she said.
So March and others joined the "Wake Up" rally, as the vigil was called, for a better understanding about how 13 people could be shot on their block.
Police have called it an isolated incident at a memorial party, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
So far, only one man has been arrested. Marciano White, 37, was apprehended at the scene when police found him with a gun.
But he was only booked on weapons charges, not in the shooting itself. He told police he hid in a closet as the shots rang out, and found a revolver on the stairs as he was leaving, but authorities are awaiting ballistics and gunshot residue tests as they investigate.
On Sunday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot suggested that some people with information weren't talking.
But on Monday night, some asked, and some yelled, for more to be done by police.
"More interactive with the neighbors; with the community," March said.
Englewood (7th) District Cmdr. Roderick Robinson responded, "We've got to work better to get them to a point where they're happy to see the police."
Robinson said a team effort with the community is needed.
"With us working together, with them coming out and the police coming down the street, getting out the cars - which I'm instructing my officers to do - we'll definitely make a difference," he said.
But the common thread between everyone who attended the vigil Monday night is that this one tragedy does not define Englewood.
Graves asked Cmdr. Robinson if there was any update in the investigation leading to a possible shooter. All he would say was the department is using every resource available to get to the bottom of it.
