Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s newly elected mayor, is probably wondering right about now what she was thinking when she wanted to be mayor of one of the nation’s most dangerous cities.
Temperatures rose into the mid-60s this weekend and city residents, tired of the long, long winter, poured into the streets and parks to take advantage of the warm weather.
More targets for the gang bangers.
At a baby shower in the Englewood neighborhood, six people were shot, including an 8-year-old boy who was shot in the back and chest, and a 10-year-old girl who was hit in the shin. Four other partygoers were also hit.
A 29-year-old woman is in critical condition after being shot in the shoulder and chest. She was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center.
A 42-year-old man was shot twice in the hip. A 23-year-old man was shot in the left foot. A 28-year-old man was shot in his right shoulder. All of their conditions had stabilized, authorities said.
Detectives said they received conflicting information from witnesses at the scene, but police said they are looking for a red Chevy Equinox that may have been involved. About four men were believed to be inside at the time of the shooting.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Sunday that based on victim profiles, detectives suspect the shooting was possibly retaliation for an earlier incident resulting from a gang conflict in the city’s Englewood neighborhood.
Englewood is the second-worst neighborhood for violence in the city and has been the site of several gang wars in recent years.
Elsewhere in the city this weekend:
Three people also were shot in East Garfield Park about 3:30 a.m. Sunday as they stood outside in the 3900 block of West Wilcox Street. A 34-year-old was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the right leg; a 26-year-old was taken to Norwegian American Hospital with a gunshot wound to his right foot; and a 33-year-old was taken to Rush University Medical Center for a gunshot wound to his left arm.
Two of the three homicide investigations were launched Sunday morning, according to police. About 8:30 a.m. officers were called to the 6700 block of South Normal Boulevard in Englewood and found a man, 52, with a gunshot wound to his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
Officer Michael Carroll said that shooting may have been the result of a domestic dispute; a person of interest was in police custody, he said.
About 6:10 a.m., officers in Woodlawn were called to a shooting in the 6600 block of South Maryland Avenue. A 32-year-old man had been shot multiple times in the back, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he later was pronounced dead. No arrests had been made in that case.
A teenager also was shot to death Saturday afternoon, about 4 p.m., in the 1700 block of West Steuben Street in Morgan Park, in an incident that also wounded a 22-year-old man. The medical examiner’s office later identified the slain man as Demonte Davis, 19.
Lightfoot’s “solutions” are familiar: address the “root causes” of the violence by “investing” in neighborhoods and, of course, more gun control. She wants to treat the violence as a “public health problem.” Changing definitions and throwing money into the city’s poorest neighborhoods is not going to get it done.
Yeah, but it sure sounded good on the campaign trail.
Chicago is a “crossroads” city, where a lot of drugs and a lot of guns move through town. The trade is lucrative and gangs are willing to kill for a street corner. With the police being hamstrung by “reforms” that will put a premium on paperwork and de-emphasize pro-active policing, Chicagoans better brace themselves for a long, hot summer.
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