Five shot Monday, bringing holiday weekend toll to nearly 50 shooting victims
Obama sends Kwanzaa greetings from Hawaii
(He was supposed to go to Chicago... but was afraid he'd get shot)
------------------------------------------
Five people wounded in shootings Monday morning brought to almost 50 the number of people shot since Christmas weekend began Friday afternoon.
Much of the violence happened in areas "with historical gang conflicts on the south and west side of Chicago," said Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department. He also referenced the department's "strategic subject list," which is generated daily from a computerized algorithm and assigns a score from 1 to 500 based on such factors as a person's arrests and the activities of his associates. Those people with a score in the upper 200s or higher are considered in danger of being shot or of shooting someone else.
"Ninety percent of those fatally wounded had gang affiliations, criminal histories and were pre-identified by the department's strategic subject algorithm as being a potential suspect or victim of gun violence," Guglielmi said Monday.
The most recent shooting happened about 11:20 a.m. in the 1800 block of South Ridgeway Avenue in North Lawndale. A man whose age was not immediately available was shot in each leg. He was being treated at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police.
Before that, police were called about 10:40 a.m. to the 400 block of West Marquette Road in Englewood. A 24-year-old man was shot in the hand, officials said. Other details about that shooting weren't immediately available.
In the 7000 block of South Indiana, in the Park Manor neighborhood about 9:30 a.m., an initial call went out for two people shot in the area of 78th Street. Police later said a 25-year-old man had a graze wound to his head and also was shot in a leg. A 26-year-old man was shot in the face. The men were able to get themselves to St. Bernard Hospital, where they were being treated.
The first daylight shooting happened about 9:25 a.m. in the 300 block of South Kostner Avenue. A man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with gunshot wounds to the ankle and leg. He was in stable condition, authorities said.
More than 40 people have been shot since Friday afternoon. Monday morning's shootings came after two brothers were killed and five other people were wounded while shooting dice at a family Christmas party in East Chatham late Sunday.
That mass shooting, and the others on Christmas, added to the tolls this year in Chicago, where more than 700 homicides have been recorded with more than 4,000 people shot -- a level of violence not seen in Chicago since the late 1990s, according to Tribune and police data. Last year, 488 people were killed in Chicago.
The holiday weekend began with five teenagers shot within feet of each other in the South Austin neighborhood. At 3:30 p.m. Friday, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the 4900 block of West Kinzie Street. A little more than an hour later, four other teenagers were shot just feet away, in the 4900 block of West Hubbard Street. Their conditions had stabilized.
Guglielmi said most of the attacks were targeted attacks by gangs against potential rivals who were at holiday gatherings. That only brought on retaliatory gun violence. In response, police adjusted their assignments as needed and seized 45 guns from areas with a heavy presence of gangs, Guglielmi said.
"While we have promising leads, this unacceptable level of gun violence demonstrates the clear and present need for policy makers to convene in January and give Chicago the gun sentencing tools against repeat offenders so that we can adequately hold people accountable," he said.
No comments :
Post a Comment