Chicago weekend shootings: 62 shot, 15 fatally, in violence across city
By Will Jones, Jessica D'Onofrio and Jesse Kirsch, ABC 7 Chicago Digital Team
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CHICAGO (WLS) -- For a second straight weekend, violence in Chicago has impacted the lives of dozens of people.
According to Chicago police, 62 people were shot and 15 were killed between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Three of those fatal shootings victims were minors, police said.
Community activist Andrew Holmes shared a picture of 10-year-old Lena Nunez, who was shot and killed while visiting her uncle's home in Logan Square Saturday night. A stray bullet came through the window.
Holmes said the family is heartbroken.
"They just can't believe that she went over there to her uncle's house and with her other relatives and she was just waiting on her dad to come pick her up and then this incident happened," Holmes said.
A vigil for Nunez is planned for Monday night.
"If the people in our community come out and show support and be the voice, I think we can change this," said Angee Gonzalez Rodriguez.
The shooting happened just after 1-year-old Sincere Gaston was shot and killed while riding home from the laundromat with his mother in the Englewood neighborhood.
"Sincere deserved to live his life and grow up in the Englewood which I know and love," said Alderman Stephanie Coleman, 16th Ward.
There is a growing reward for the arrest and conviction of the boy's killer. The newly formed reward group "I'm Telling, Don't Shoot" is putting up $25,000.
"This is a group of business owners that are pretty much fed up as it relates to the gun violence in our communities," said Early Walker, a philanthropist and business owner.
"I want to urge anybody that know something, say something. This could be you," said Tiffany Henyard, a business owner.
In Englewood, an 8-year-old girl was injured in a shooting Saturday night. A stray bullet grazed her on her head while she was sitting on the couch in a home, she said.
"This is our community and we refused to let crime take over the narrative of our community and I often say this I am proud to be the daughter of Englewood because good is in Englewood and we are changing the narrative," Coleman said.
So far this weekend, 15 people have been fatally shot, following a violent Father's Day weekend.
Three-year-old Mehki James was killed last Saturday after someone fired at his stepdad's car while they were riding home from a barbershop on the city's West Side.
A 38-year-old man was fatally shot Sunday morning in Little Village on the Southwest Side, Chicago police said.
The man was walking in an alley in the 2500 block of S. Troy just before 8:30 a.m. when an SUV approached the alley and an unknown suspect exited the vehicle and fired multiple shots at the victim, according to police. The suspect then fled the scene in the SUV in an unknown direction. The man suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Area 4 Detectives are investigating.
An 18-year-old was was shot and killed in South Chicago Sunday morning. Police responded to the 8300 block of S. Muskegon where they attempted to render aid to the victim before he was transported to the University of Chicago. Police say the shooting occurred in the 8200 block of S. Escanaba just after 7:15 a.m., before the victim relocated to where police responded. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Areas 2 Detectives are investigating.
A 19-year-old man was also shot and killed in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the North Side. According to police, just before 7:00 a.m. the victim was walking in the 1400-block of W. Lunt Avenue when an unknown male offender approached him and fired one gunshot to the back of the victim's head.
The suspect then ran to a black SUV and fled westbound on Lunt Avenue towards Clark Street, police said.
CFD Ambulance transported to the victim to St. Francis Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County medical examiner's office has not released any further details about the death.
Area 3 Detectives are investigating.
A 21-year-old man was shot while he was jogging in Gresham on the South Side.
About 8:30 a.m. he was jogging in the 7500 block of South Harvard Avenue, when he heard shots and felt a pain, Chicago police said.
He was struck in the leg took himself to St. Bernard Hospital for treatment, police said.
Area One detectives are investigating.
A 31-year-old woman was critically injured in another shooting Sunday in Rogers Park on the North Side, Chicago police said.
According to police, around 5:42 a.m. the woman was a passenger in a vehicle traveling in the 1700-block of W. Juneway Terrace when gunshots were fired and one round came through the rear window gazing her on the left side of the head.
The victim was self transported to St Francis Hospital and is listed in critical condition. Area 3 Detectives are investigating
No one is in custody.
Earlier Sunday, three people were injured in a drive-by Sunday in Austin on the West Side, Chicago police said.
According to police, around 4:26 a.m. the three people were outside among a group in the 500-block of North Menard Avenue when an unknown occupant inside of a passing vehicle fired shots, striking them each.
A 31-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and foot and was driven to West Suburban in serious condition while a 35-year-old woman is also at West Suburban with a gunshot wound to the foot. She is in fair condition.
The last victim, a 37-year-old woman, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was transported to Mount Sinai in fair condition. No one is in custody and Area Four detectives are investigating.
A few minutes earlier, Chicago police officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert Sunday morning around 3:54 a.m. in the 1300-block of N. Mayfield Avenue and discovered a 28-year-old man lying unresponsive on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds to the back and face, police said.
The victim was subsequently pronounced dead on scene, police said. There are currently no witnesses to this incident and no one is in custody.
The Cook County medical examiner's office has not released any further details about the death.
Area Five detectives are investigating.
Two men were shot Saturday by a robber in the Lawndale neighborhood. At about 5 p.m., the men 29 and 31, were in the hallway of a residential building in the 3300 block of West Douglas Boulevard when someone walked in with a gun and demanded property, Chicago police said. The robber opened fire, striking the 29-year-old several times. He was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition. The 31-year-old was taken to Stroger Hospital but is expected to be okay. Area Four detectives are investigating.
A man of a unknown age was shot and killed Saturday around 3:51 p.m. in the 4400 block of South Kedzie. Officers found the victim with a gunshot wound to his head, according to police. He was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital where he died.
A man, 28 is in critical condition after he was found shot in the 7600 block of South Phillips in the city's South Shore neighborhood at around 3:50 p.m. Saturday. Police said the he was shot in the chest, neck and arm. Area Two detectives are investigating.
A man, 37 was shot while sitting in his parked vehicle at around 12:08 p.m. Saturday near 80th and Exchange, when someone approached him and fired shots, striking the victim. He was transported to South Shore Hospital in stable condition, according to police.
A 17-year-old boy died at Christ Hospital after he was shot around 11:25 a.m. Saturday. Police said, the teen was with a large crowd of people in the 1100 block of North Monticello in Humbold Park, when he got into an altercation, and someone from the group fired a gun, striking him in the chest. Area Four detectives are investigating.
An hour earlier, a man, 25, was killed in apparent drive-by shooting in the 1300 block of South Springfield in North Lawndale. Police are searching for a Silver colored vehicle in that shooting.
A man, 20, was shot in the chest and arm at around 9:53 a.m. Saturday in the 4400 block of West 28th Street in Little Village. He was taken to Mount Sinai hospital in fair condition.
About a half hour earlier, two men were wounded in a shooting at 9:24 a.m. in the 3100 block of West Flournoy in the city's Lawndale neighborhood. Police say the 48-year-old and 39-year-old were standing outside a home when someone walked up to them and fired shots. The offender left in an unknown vehicle, according to police.
A man in his 30s was pronounced dead after he was shot in the head in the 5600 block of South May in Englewood at around 6:50 a.m. Saturday morning. Police said he was found sitting in his vehicle when witnesses say they heard shots and saw a 2003 Nissan flee the scene.
A man, 33, died at the hospital after he was shot multiple times during a domestic-related incident at 6:20 a.m. in the 9300 block of South Lyon in Burnside. The victim was shot by a woman he was choking at the time, according to police.
A man, 25, drove himself to Mount Sinai Hospital after suffering gunshot wounds to the neck and face. He is currently in critical condition. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are not known because the victim is unable to speak, police said.
A man fled after shooting a 50-year-old man in the hand around 4:50 a.m. Saturday in the 800 block of East 81st Street. Police said the two men are friends and had been arguing.
A ride share driver, 46, suffered a graze wound to the back while dropping off a customer in the 2200 block of West 21st Place in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood at 1:33 .am. early Saturday morning. According to police, the gunman was standing on the corner with a group. The driver did not appear to be the target, according to police.
A man, 27, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg just after midnight Saturday in the 600 block of West Lawrence in Uptown. No one is in custody but detectives investigating say the victims is known to police.
Area One Detectives are investigating after a 46-year-old man was shot around 7:30 p.m. Friday in the 5200 block of South Wood. He was transported to the hospital in good condition.
A man 42, was shot and killed Friday around 5:42 p.m. in the 200 block of North Leclaire Avenue as he stood on a sidewalk. According to Chicago police, an unknown offender came out of an alleyway and shot him in the head. No one is in custody.
Less than hour earlier around 6:13 p.m., a man, 41, was wounded in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting in the 2700 block of South Kedvale. The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in stable condition, according to police.
Chicago bloodbath leaves several children dead as notoriously violent Fourth of July weekend approaches
By Hollie McKay | Fox News
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Mekhi James, Sincere Gaston and Lena Marie Nunez were all killed by gunfire over the past week in Chicago
The gun violence in the streets of Chicago claimed the lives of three minors with two others wounded in the mayhem over the past week alone.
Ten-year-old girl Lena Marie Nunez was killed when a stray bullet shattered the window and struck her head while she was inside her second-floor family apartment in the 3500 block of West Dickens on Saturday night. The charred glass wounded her 8-year-old cousin, police said.
That same day, a 20-month-old baby, Sincere Gaston, was shot dead in broad daylight while strapped in a car seat alongside his mother in the Englewood neighborhood. Hours earlier, a 17-year-old boy died of a gunshot wound after becoming implicated in a fight while in a "large crowd," authorities stated.
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Lena Marie Nunez was struck by a stray bullet in her home on Saturday night
"Too many times children are killed," Police Chief Fred Waller said at a news conference after the 20-month-old died. "It seems like just yesterday, and it was actually last Saturday, I was in front of you all talking about a 3-year-old kid.
When is this gonna stop?"
But just two hours after the killing of Nunez, another 8-year-old girl in the West Englewood area also inside a home as per local media reports when a random bullet came through the window and grazed her head. She was immediately transported to Comer Children's Hospital, where she is said to be in a "fair condition."
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Sincere Gaston was tragically killed by gunfire in Chicago last week
The incidents remain under investigation.
Moreover, the tragic spate of shootings come less than a week after 3-year-old Mekhi James was killed on Chicago's West Side, the victim of a drive-by shooting.
According to an analysis of crime statistics by the Chicago Tribune, the past week marked the most violent in Chicago since at least 2012 with some 106 people shot, 14 of them fatally.
"Through last Sunday, the city saw a jump of more than 25 percent in the number of homicides, reaching 295, which is 60 more than the same period a year ago," the publication wrote. "Ninety-six of those occurred during a 28-day stretch that covered most of June, the statistics show."
Julio Rivera, editorial director for crime and politics digital publication Reactionary Times, said that crime in Chicago is reaching deeply concerning levels.
Overall Crime in May of 2020 versus May of 2019, 2020 has been a particularly violent year as the 1,127 shooting victims through May of 2020 represent a 30 percent increase versus 2019, he told Fox News. It has only gotten worst in June, climaxing with Chicago's most violent weekend since 2012 between 6 p.m. Friday, June 19th and 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 21st, that saw at least 106 people shot, with at least 14 fatalities.
But with the pending July 4 weekend ahead, notoriously the worst few days for violence in the Windy City, the worst may still be yet to come.
But especially tragic in the city's protracted gun violence are the young victims caught in the crossfire.
For one, prominent Chicago activist Diane Latiker has erected a shrine in memory of Chicago's children killed by bullets adorned with hundreds of names embossed into stones and the jarring reality that there are now more names to engrave.
"It's like it takes a piece of your soul," Latiker told the local Fox 32 affiliate. "Because whoever is on that stone, somebody loved them."
