As Memorial Day weekend wore on, by Sunday afternoon Chicago police had responded to the shootings of 31 people, five of whom died from their injuries, officials said.
The grim tallies grew as a shooting Sunday about 6 a.m. in the 1300 block of West Hastings Street left two dead and two injured. The shooting was possibly in retaliation for an earlier one in the same University Village neighborhood, which also left a man dead, investigators said.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, said detectives believe there is a connection between the two shootings — on the same block, hours apart — that in total killed three people and injured another three.
“We do believe that the two shootings from 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. are connected,” Guglielmi wrote in an email to the Tribune.
Guglielmi said detectives are questioning four people of interest in connection with the shooting of four people on Hastings, in the ABLA Homes public housing community.
“Multiple weapons have been recovered and detectives believe our offender opened fire on a group of people with a TEC-9 semi-automatic machine pistol. Two victims suffered fatal injuries and two others are being treated at an area hospital,” he said in a statement.
After daybreak Sunday police were called back to the 1300 block of West Hastings Street in University Village, where they’d responded just a few hours earlier. Guglielmi said officers had been to the housing community multiple times to disperse large crowds that had gathered.
“A review of police and security cameras show several hundred people were gathered prior to this incident,” he said.
Four people were shot during the second shooting; two men died from their injuries, and two women who had been seated in a black sedan when a gunman opened fire were being treated for their injuries at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police.
A 31-year-old woman was shot in the hip and a 25-year-old woman was shot in the left arm as they were sitting in the car, officials said. They were expected to recover from their injuries. Two men, ages 26 and 27, were shot and were taken to Stroger Hospital, where they died from their injuries, police said.
In the first call on West Hastings Street, police were dispatched to a loud disturbance by a large group that had gathered about 1:30 a.m. When they arrived, police found a man unresponsive on the street. The 25-year-old was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A woman, 27, also was shot during the gunfire. She had a gunshot wound to her left forearm, and she also went to Stroger where her condition was stabilized, according to police.
Guglielmi said Superintendent Eddie Johnson met with command staff Sunday morning and has been in contact with the Chicago Housing Authority, regarding the private security patrols that are assigned to the complex.
Guglielmi said officers had also made 41 arrests for gun offenses and had taken 112 guns off the streets between 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Sunday as part of their Memorial Day weekend patrols.
Earlier, a man who was shot in the foot crashed into a Chicago police vehicle, injuring an officer, about 3:25 a.m. in the 1200 block of West 73rd Street in Englewood on the city’s South Side. The driver of a Hyundai Santa Fe, 23, was shot in the foot before he started driving the wrong way south on nearby Ada Street, according to police. At Ada and West 74th streets, he crashed into a CPD vehicle headed east and the injured police officer was taken to a hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
The 23-year-old was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized, police said. There were two passengers in the Santa Fe, and one was critically injured in the crash, officials said. A 26-year-old passenger was treated at Christ and his condition was stabilized, while a 25-year-old passenger also was being treated at Christ for injuries that were critical, investigators said. It was one of two crashes between Saturday night and Sunday morning that involved Chicago police vehicles and officers; the other left 10 Chicago police officers injured.
A 57-year-old who was known to police said he was walking in the 2700 block of West Flournoy Street in the Lawndale neighborhood about 1 a.m. Sunday, when he heard gunshots and noticed he’d been struck once in the buttocks, police said. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where his condition was stabilized. No arrests had been made.
About 12:55 a.m., police were called to the 2300 block of South California Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood, officials said. A 23-year-old said he was on foot when two people started chasing him and shooting at him. He was struck in the chest and the back, though it was unclear whether that was two gunshots or one, creating both entrance and exit wounds, according to preliminary reports. The man, who was known to police, was taken by friends to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was listed in critical condition. The gunman or gunmen fled on foot, the man told investigators. No arrests have been made.
Two people were shot, one fatally, Saturday night in the Gresham neighborhood on the city’s South Side. About 10 p.m., two men, one 43 and the other 21, were standing on a sidewalk in the 400 block of West 77th Street when someone in a vehicle started shooting at them, according to police.
The 43-year-old was shot multiple times and was rushed to the University of Chicago Hospital where he later died from his injuries, police said. A second man, 21, was shot in the left leg and was taken to the same hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said. No arrests had been made.
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