14-Year-Old Boy Killed, 9 Other People Wounded Between 2 Mass Shootings 3 Blocks Apart In Lawndale
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 14-year-old boy was killed and nine other people were wounded between two mass shootings, which happened three blocks and five minutes apart in Lawndale Wednesday evening.
Four other victims between the two shootings were also boys under 18.
Chicago Police Area Four Deputy Chief Ernest Cato said the first shooting happened near Douglas Boulevard and Christiana Avenue shortly after 6 p.m. Five people were shot, he said.
Damarion Benson, 14, was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital of Cook County, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. A 16-year-old boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in "grave" condition, police said.
Three other victims – two 24-year-old men and a 22-year-old man – were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. One of the 24-year-olld men was shot in the left shin and the other in the right hip, while the 22-year-old man was shot in the left foot. Their conditions were all stabilized.
SWAT team officers were spotted at the scene not far from Douglass Park.
The second shooting happened five minutes later at Douglas Boulevard and Ridgeway Avenue. Five more people were shot there, Cato said.
A sport-utility vehicle was left flipped over in the middle of the street in the aftermath.
Police said in that incident at 6:11 p.m., a 15-year-old boy was shot in the right leg, a 17-year-old boy suffered a graze wound to the back, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the right arm, and a 22-year-old man was shot in the right thigh. Those four victims were all reported in good condition – the first two were taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County, the other two to Mount Sinai Hospital.
The fifth victim, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the upper body and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition.
"This is becoming an effort where we're going to need an all-hands-on-deck approach, and that approach is going to involve our community," Cato said.
Police late Wednesday were investigating whether the two shootings were related.
