CHICAGO — At least 55 people were shot, 11 fatally, since Friday evening across Chicago, marking the city’s deadliest weekend of 2021.
The shootings happened between 5 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Monday.
Just overnight, four people were killed and seven others were injured in shootings, capping off what has been a violent weekend in the city.
In one of the most recent incidents, police responded to reports of shots fired around 9 p.m. Sunday in the 4600 block of South Federal Street in Bronzeville. Two men were found unresponsive in a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds. Both victims, a 49-year-old man and a 56-year-old man, were transported to the University of Chicago Hospital where they were both pronounced dead. The shooting is under investigation.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown says law enforcement cannot stop the violence alone.
“Who will join Chicago police officers in protecting the rights of the victims and the families?” Brown asked.
When asked about the escalating gun violence, the superintendent pointed to a sharp rise in violent offenders being put back on the street with Electronic Monitoring, rather than remaining behind bars. Brown added that those decisions come from Cook County judges.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office replied in a statement that read, in part: “Electronic Monitoring was designed to ensure that individuals facing low-level, non-violent crimes appear in court. It was not designed for violent offenders.”
Yet, Cook County judges have ordered electronic monitoring this year more than 1,000 times, including 93 people charged with murder, 261 charged as armed habitual offenders and more than 500 each for felons possessing a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
“It’s the judges who have made the decision of violent offenders being OK being back in the community,” Brown said.
Over the weekend, a man already out on bail was arrested on an illegal gun possession charge. That man, Cedric Robinson, just last summer was charged with shooting a 3-year-old girl in West Englewood. Robinson was arrested this weekend on a weapons charge.
“Shootings are done by firearms, so many, too many illegal guns in the wrong hands,” Brown added.
The superintendent says more needs to be done by the community as a whole to give young offenders an alternative to violence.
“They could decide to put their guns down,” Brown said. “Tt’s not just a foregone conclusion that they will be violent. This weekend or next weekend or the next weekend, we can make the case and appeal to them to make different decisions.
The most recent shootings in Chicago include:
- A 25-year-old man was injured in a shooting in the city’s West Town neighborhood early Monday morning, according to police. Police said the man was discovered with a gunshot wound to the chest unresponsive at approximately 2 a.m. in the 2500 block of West LeMoyne Avenue. The man was reported to be in critical condition and was transported to Stroger Hospital. There are currently no witnesses and the shooting is under investigation.
- A 56-year-old man was killed in a shooting in the city’s West Garfield Park neighborhood early Monday morning, according to police. Police said the man was found lying on the ground unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the neck just before 1:30 a.m. in the 4500 block of West Maypole Avenue. He was transported to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead. There are currently no witnesses to the incident and no one is in custody. The shooting is under investigation.
- Two people were injured in a shooting in the city’s Belmont-Cragin neighborhood early Monday morning, according to police. Police said a 25-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were in a car at a stop sign in the 2100 block of North Laramie Avenue just after midnight when an unknown occupant inside a passing vehicle opened fire. The man suffered gunshot wounds to the arm, leg and lower backside and was transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in fair condition. The 23-year-old woman was struck in the head and transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition. No one is in custody and the shooting is under investigation.
- A 20-year-old man was injured in a shooting in the city’s East Side neighborhood early Monday morning, according to police. Police said the man was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the face in the 9600 block of South Avenue M just after midnight. He was reported in serious condition and was transported to University of Chicago Hospital. No one is in custody and the shooting is under investigation.
- A 25-year-old man was killed and a 31-year-old man was injured in a shooting in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood Sunday night, according to police. Police said the two men were traveling in a vehicle just after 7:10 p.m. in the 3700 block of West Flournoy Avenue when a man fired shots from the street, striking them. The 25-year-old man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with gunshot wounds to the abdomen, where he was later pronounced dead. The 31-year-old man sustained a graze wound to the right shoulder and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition. There is no one in custody and the shooting is under investigation.
- A 22-year-old man was injured in a shooting in the city’s Near West Side neighborhood late Sunday night, according to police. Police said the man was discovered shot in the stairwell of a building just after 11:50 p.m. in the 300 block of North Loomis Street. He was reported in good condition and transported to Stroger Hospital. The victim refused to provide any more details and the shooting is under investigation.
- A 48-year-old man was injured in a shooting in Chicago’s Calumet Heights neighborhood late Sunday night, according to police. Police said the man was outside in the 8900 block of South Harper Avenue just before 10:25 p.m. when an unknown man fired shots, striking him in the arm. He was reported in good condition and transported to University of Chicago Hospital. The shooting is under investigation and no one is in custody.
Crime numbers so far this year have surpassed those of 2020.
