Another Violent Weekend In Chicago

29 people shot in less than 18 hours in Chicago

Police respond to a shooting at 31st Street Beach. Two people were wounded at 10:30 p.m. Saturday as families milled about the popular site. 

 (Elyssa Cherney/Chicago Tribune)

Elyssa CherneyContact ReporterChicago Tribune

In the pouring rain, the 23-year-old man pulled a fur-lined hood over his
 head and stood on the porch of his younger brother’s home in the Douglas Park neighborhood early Sunday, watching police investigate the city’s first homicide
of the weekend.

The man said he heard people arguing and throwing bottles at each other
 about 2:30 a.m. before the shots rang out. He said he went to check on
what was happening three doors down but then stopped, retreated back.

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“When I noticed the commotion, I headed the other direction,” he said, as
 he was getting ready to go to work as a truck driver. “There’s a reason for
 the rain. Only God knew this was going to happen.”

The killing in the 1300 block of South Fairfield Avenue, half a block north
 of Mount Sinai Hospital, marked the only fatality among 29 people who
 were shot from Saturday to Sunday morning. Of the people shot, three
 were teenagers — ages 14, 15 and 17.

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Several of the attacks also injured multiple victims as gunmen opened
 fire on groups of people. Two shootings that occurred in the Chatham
 and Back of the Yards neighborhoods each injured three people. 

The man killed in the Douglas Park neighborhood was shot in the head
 and back and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced
 dead, police said. His age was not immediately available. In the same
 shooting, a 19-year-old man was shot in the hand and also taken to
Mount Sinai, where his condition was stabilized. 

The Cook County medical examiner’s office had not identified the victim
by Sunday morning. 

The truck driver, who grew up on the same block, said he didn’t know the
victims and thought they lived in a different neighborhood. He said he
 heard rapid-fire shots before police came. Another man who was a DJ
at a party on the block said he heard as many as 20 gunshots. 

Police had made arrests in incidents in East Ukrainian Village and
Lakeview, but none of the others. 

In the East Ukrainian Village shooting around 6 a.m., a 32-year-old man
 was walking in the 1100 block of North Ashland Avenue when someone
 in a passing car fired shots before fleeing, police said. The man walked
into a nearby fire station and was transported to Stroger Hospital in good
condition. 

Officers nearby saw the shooting and pulled over the driver three blocks
away for an arrest in connection with the incident, police said. Officers
 found a weapon and spent shell casings inside the man's silver SUV. 

On Saturday night, two people were shot near 31st Street Beach about
 10:30 p.m. as families milled about the popular site.

A 27-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman were sitting near the
 shoreline about 10:30 p.m. in the 2800 block of South Fort Dearborn Drive
when they heard gunshots and realized they were hit, Chicago police said.

The man was struck in the right leg and the woman was struck in the right
hand, police said. Both were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in
 good condition.

In other shootings:

• A 38-year-old man was walking on the sidewalk in the 4800 block of
•  South Ada Street in Back of the Yards about 3:10 a.m. when he was 
• shot in the left arm. He was taken to University of Illinois at Chicago 
• hospital, where his condition was stabilized. 
• A 23-year-old man was shot in the left thigh while driving in the 4200 
• block of North Pulaski Road in the Old Irving Park neighborhood about 
• 2:30 a.m. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where his
•  condition was stabilized.
• At 2:05 a.m. in the Fuller Park neighborhood, a 30-year-old man was
•  shot in the face at a party in the 4800 block of South Princeton Avenue
•  after arguing with someone who opened fire. The man took himself to
•  Provident Hospital of Cook County and was transferred to Stroger
•  Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
• A 27-year-old man was driving east in the 9700 block of South Genoa 
• Avenue in Longwood Manor when someone in a black SUV fired shots, 
• striking him. The man drove himself to Little Company of Mary Hospital
•  and was transferred to Advocate Christ Medical Center in serious
• condition with gunshot wounds to the chest, back and left arm.
• A 21-year-old man was shot in the 2900 block of North Sheffield Avenue
•  about 1:15 a.m. at a party at an apartment in Lakeview. A man who was 
• earlier asked to leave returned to the party, fired shots and struck the 
• victim multiple times in the knees. The victim was taken to Illinois 
• Masonic Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized.
• A little more than an hour earlier, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the 
• right bicep while walking in the 1100 block of West 18th Street in the
•  Pilsen neighborhood about midnight. The boy was walking on the
• sidewalk when men walked up to him and opened fire, police said. 
• He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. 
• A 15-year-old boy was sitting in the back seat of a vehicle in the 4400
•  block of North Racine Avenue in the Sheridan Park neighborhood when
•  he was shot in the right cheek about 11:56 p.m. The boy got himself to Weiss Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
• At 11:50 p.m., a 21-year-old man was shot in the right leg while sitting in a 
• vehicle in the 1800 block of South Western Avenue in the Little Village 
• neighborhood after a gray SUV approached and a gunman inside opened
•  fire. The man got himself to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition
•  was stabilized. 
• A 17-year-old girl was shot in the right leg in the 6900 block of South
•  Artesian Avenue in the Lithuanian Plaza neighborhood about 11:40 p.m. 
• She was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where her
•  condition was stabilized. The girl was walking in an alley with a small 
• group of people when someone inside a dark-colored vehicle fired several
•  shots before fleeing. 
• Earlier, three people were shot about 11 p.m. in the 600 block of East
•  79th Street in the Chatham neighborhood. A 46-year-old man and a 
• 26-year-old man were shot multiple times, and they were taken in 
• serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center and Northwestern
•  Memorial Hospital, respectively. A third man, 25, was shot multiple
•  times and taken to Stroger Hospital in stable condition. The men were
•  standing on the sidewalk when a man came up and opened fire.  
• On the West Side, a 31-year-old woman was shot in the left leg in the
•  East Garfield Park neighborhood about 10:45 p.m. She was standing
•  in the 500 block of North Sawyer Avenue when she heard gunfire and
•  felt pain, police said. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good 
• condition.  
• On the North Side, a 19-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to the
•  back in the Rogers Park neighborhood about 9:35 p.m. The woman told 
• police she was in the 1200 block of West Touhy Avenue when three men
•  started shooting and she was hit. She was taken to St. Francis Hospital,
•  where she was treated and released. 
• Just 15 minutes earlier, three people were shot in the 5100 block of South 
• Wood Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood about 9:20 p.m. A
•  20-year-old man was shot in the left ankle, and a 23-year-old man was 
• shot in the right hand. Both of them were taken to Holy Cross Hospital
•  in good condition. The third man, 29, was shot in the abdomen and taken 
• to St. Bernard Hospital in serious condition. The men told police they 
• were standing outside when they heard shots and felt pain.   
• Earlier, a 28-year-old man was shot in the right leg in the 9600 block of
•  South Exchange Avenue in the South Deering neighborhood about 
• 8:56 p.m. He was taken to Trinity Hospital in good condition. The man 
• was walking near the mouth of an alley when he was confronted by a 
• group of men and a gunman opened fire before running away. 
• Before that, a 28-year-old woman was shot shortly before 8:30 p.m. in
•  the 5500 block of West Rice Street in the Austin neighborhood, Chicago 
• police said. The woman was shot in both legs and ankles. She was taken
•  to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where her condition
•  was stabilized, police said.
• A person was shot about 6:15 p.m. in the 2000 block of West 68th Place
•  in the West Englewood neighborhood. A 24-year-old man was sitting
•  in a vehicle when a white SUV pulled alongside and someone fired
•  shots. He was struck in the hand, elbow and abdomen. He was taken
•  to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition
•  was stabilized, police said.
• Shortly after 5 p.m., a person was shot in the 1500 block of North
•  Pulaski Road in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood. According 
• to preliminary reports, a 27-year-old man was inside a vehicle when another 
• vehicle pulled up and someone fired shots, striking him in the leg. He was
•  taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.
• About 12:50 p.m., two men were walking west on 61st Street toward Indiana
•  Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhood when a Nissan drove up and
•  shots were fired in their direction, Chicago police said. One of the
•  victims, 23, was shot in the eye and foot. The other, 20, suffered wounds
•  to the stomach and leg. Both men were taken in critical condition to 
• Stroger Hospital, police said.

Twitter @ElyssaCherney

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