CHICAGO — At least 10 people were killed, and at least 43 more were wounded, in a rash of shootings in Chicago over the steamy holiday weekend.
In total, there were more than 40 shootings between Friday and Monday evening. The wounded include a 7-year-old girl who was shot while playing in her South Side home.
In the wake of the violent weekend, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Supt. Garry McCarthy on Tuesday announced two more strategies to reduce crime. They will involve ways to tackle gang violence and work with businesses prone to crime problems.
The dead this weekend include:
–Malcolm Dowdy, 33, who was shot in the back around 10 p.m. Monday in the 1700 block of East 68th Street in the South Shore neighborhood. Another man, 22, was also wounded when someone fired shots into a large group of people on the sidewalk. The older man was dead on the scene, while the younger man was in stable condition at Stroger Hospital of Cook County.
–Marley Collins, 19, who was shot in the 1500 block of South Spaulding Avenue in the North Lawndale neighborhood at 5:36 p.m. Monday Paramedics initially took him to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition, but he later died, police News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien said.
– An unidentified woman who was found shot about 5:30 a.m. Monday in an alley in the 3000 block of South Kostner Avenue, in the Little Village neighborhood. A person walking a dog found the woman bleeding from the head and called emergency crews, who took her to Stroger Hospital of Cook County, where she died, police said.
– Robert McNear, 35, of the 7100 block of South Eberhart Avenue, who was dead on the scene at 1:20 a.m. Monday in the 5000 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue, according to the medical examiner’s office.
– Marcus Morgan, 27, who died at Stroger Hospital at 3:20 p.m. Sunday after he was shot in head Friday night in the 5300 block of South Justine Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
– Jaleel Beasley, 19, who was shot in the head and stomach in the 2400 block of West Roosevelt Road, police said. He was pronounced dead at 2:34 a.m. Sunday at Mount Sinai Hospital, the medical examiner’s office said.
– Jeffrey Triplett, 17, who was shot about 2:15 a.m. Saturday in the 1500 block of South Millard Avenue, again in North Lawndale. Triplett was shot in the lower back and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, authorities said. Another 17-year-old boy was wounded in the shooting and was listed in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital.
– Jaylin Johnson, 18, who was shot in the head in the 11000 block of South Normal Avenue about 10:40 p.m. Saturday. Johnson and a 21-year-old man were wounded while having a conversation on the sidewalk. The younger man died and the older was seriously wounded.
– Avelino Sanchez, 68, and Lori Inman, 49, who were found dead with shotgun wounds to their chests at their apartment in the 6500 block of South Kenwood Avenue Friday night, authorities said.
A third roommate — 52-year-old Michael Myrieckes — is accused of shooting Sanchez and Inman during what prosecutors say was a dispute over who could stay at their Woodlawn home.
Since Friday, at least 43 other people have been wounded in shootings throughout the city, police said. Seven separate shootings claimed 13 of those victims during one particularly bloody 90-minute stretch early Sunday that began about 12:45 a.m.
Most people shot were taken to area hospitals and were reported in good or stable condition, though six people were critically wounded — including a 23-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman shot in the 6800 block of South Claremont Avenue at 1:43 a.m. Sunday during a possibly gang-related argument.
The youngest shooting victim was a 7-year-old girl, who was listed in good condition Saturday night, police said. She was shot about 4:20 p.m. Saturday, when a white four-door car pulled up to a group of boys near the intersection of West 69th Street and South Artesian Avenue and someone inside opened fire.
Police said none of the boys were injured, but a bullet hit the 7-year-old as she played in front of her home on South Artesian Avenue, police said. Paramedics initially took the girl in good condition to Holy Cross Hospital, police said, adding that she may have been transported to the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital.
Little more than an hour later, two men were shot just two blocks away in another drive-by shooting, this time in the 2500 block of West 71st Street. Police said this shooting was gang-related and they were looking into the possibility that it may be connected to the nearby shooting of the 7-year-old girl.
Gunfire also erupted in the usually quiet West Rogers Park neighborhood. A man in his 20s was wounded around 5:30 p.m. Sunday along the northern edge of Warren Park, in the 2300 block of West Pratt Boulevard. He suffered gunshot wounds to the leg and abdomen and was taken in fair-to-serious condition to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.
Meanwhile, unofficial police summaries show at least 200 homicides so far this year, compared with 134 for the same period last year.
The Rev. Corey Brooks of the New Beginnings Church in West Woodlawn says guns are not the way to solve problems.
“There are other options. There are other things that we can do,” Brooks said. “We’ve got to learn conflict resolution. We’ve got to learn to deal with one another. We cannot continue to allow this type of violence to be perpetrated in our neighborhoods.”
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
Source: CBS
