13 wounded in Chicago shooting
Chicago police said 13 people were shot and wounded in a park on the city’s South Side on Thursday night in an attack believed to be gang related.
The victims include a 3-year-old boy who was shot in the cheek and is in critical condition, police said. According to ABC, the child is out of surgery
The shooting happened late Thursday around 10 p.m. in the city's Back of the Yard neighborhood and left three victims, including the boy, in critical condition. The others were reportedly in serious or fair condition.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the 3-year-old's name is Deonta “Tay-man” Howard.
"They hit the light pole next to me but I ducked down and ran into the house," the boy's uncle, Julian Harris, 22, told The Chicago Sun-Times.
He said his nephew was shot in the cheek.
"They’ve been coming round here looking for people to shoot every night - just gang-banging stuff. It’s what they do.”
The Rev. Corey Brooks, a pastor at New Beginnings Church, spoke with family members outside the hospital and said the boy was resting with his mother.
"He was talking when they first brought him in, but he's heavily sedated now," he said.
"They say he's good," said Semecha Nunn, the boy's grandmother.
"They going to have to do a little plastic surgery on him, but he's OK."
Among the 13 victims were at least two other minors, ages 15 and 17.
Five other shootings took place earlier in the day across the city, including one fatal one.
The gunman walked through a park gate and opened fire, police told Al Jazeera. The adults and the child were taken to local hospitals, with two people in critical condition and four others in serious condition.
Police officials declined to discuss details of the investigation. Ron Gaines, a department spokesman, said no arrests had been made and that victims were being interviewed to try to determine the circumstances surrounding the attack, which happened shortly after 10 p.m.
One victim was believed to have driven himself to the hospital, and police confirmed that one of those shot had reached the hospital without the assitance of authorities. Ten ambulances responded to the scene.
The boy's aunt, Kailynn Jordan, told reporters the toddler was playing basketball in the park when the shooting happened.
His grandmother, Tracy Gautreax, urged the shooters to turn themselves in, telling a reporter "God sees all."
"I'm just asking that everybody pray that this violence just stops. It's too many kids getting hurt out here," said Gautreaux.
Violence trend
Chicago has had more than 1,600 shooting incidents this year, and several other shootings took place earlier in the day across the city, which has been grappling with a high rate of violent crime in recent years.
Thursday was also a particularly violent day in Chicago; five other people were shot at different locations and times earlier in the day, and one person died.
The shooting comes nearly three weeks after Chicago saw an outburst of violence over the Labor Day weekend that ended with eight dead and 20 others injured.
Following a surge in homicides and shootings last year, the police department stepped up its crime-fighting efforts by, among other things, paying overtime to add patrols to some neighborhoods, including the Back of the Yards.
The city has been hit hard by violent crime in recent years, with more than 500 murders in 2012, according to a report this week by the FBI.
By comparison, New York City -- which has a population three times Chicago's -- recorded 419 murders in 2012, the FBI said.
Source
I know, unfortunately, even though these occurrences happen too often, they're not posted a whole lot; in light of some recent events, i thought it would be interesting to discuss. i know a lot of my virulent gun rights friends always like to sarcastically cite Chicago as being so gun free when this stuff happens. i saw a tweet though, that i liked re: that argument...
Argument that guns inside Chicago discredit gun laws overlooks fact that city is neither gated nor moated.
- davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 20, 2013
overall, just sad. :(
The victims include a 3-year-old boy who was shot in the cheek and is in critical condition, police said. According to ABC, the child is out of surgery
The shooting happened late Thursday around 10 p.m. in the city's Back of the Yard neighborhood and left three victims, including the boy, in critical condition. The others were reportedly in serious or fair condition.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the 3-year-old's name is Deonta “Tay-man” Howard.
"They hit the light pole next to me but I ducked down and ran into the house," the boy's uncle, Julian Harris, 22, told The Chicago Sun-Times.
He said his nephew was shot in the cheek.
"They’ve been coming round here looking for people to shoot every night - just gang-banging stuff. It’s what they do.”
The Rev. Corey Brooks, a pastor at New Beginnings Church, spoke with family members outside the hospital and said the boy was resting with his mother.
"He was talking when they first brought him in, but he's heavily sedated now," he said.
"They say he's good," said Semecha Nunn, the boy's grandmother.
"They going to have to do a little plastic surgery on him, but he's OK."
Among the 13 victims were at least two other minors, ages 15 and 17.
Five other shootings took place earlier in the day across the city, including one fatal one.
The gunman walked through a park gate and opened fire, police told Al Jazeera. The adults and the child were taken to local hospitals, with two people in critical condition and four others in serious condition.
Police officials declined to discuss details of the investigation. Ron Gaines, a department spokesman, said no arrests had been made and that victims were being interviewed to try to determine the circumstances surrounding the attack, which happened shortly after 10 p.m.
One victim was believed to have driven himself to the hospital, and police confirmed that one of those shot had reached the hospital without the assitance of authorities. Ten ambulances responded to the scene.
The boy's aunt, Kailynn Jordan, told reporters the toddler was playing basketball in the park when the shooting happened.
His grandmother, Tracy Gautreax, urged the shooters to turn themselves in, telling a reporter "God sees all."
"I'm just asking that everybody pray that this violence just stops. It's too many kids getting hurt out here," said Gautreaux.
Violence trend
Chicago has had more than 1,600 shooting incidents this year, and several other shootings took place earlier in the day across the city, which has been grappling with a high rate of violent crime in recent years.
Thursday was also a particularly violent day in Chicago; five other people were shot at different locations and times earlier in the day, and one person died.
The shooting comes nearly three weeks after Chicago saw an outburst of violence over the Labor Day weekend that ended with eight dead and 20 others injured.
Following a surge in homicides and shootings last year, the police department stepped up its crime-fighting efforts by, among other things, paying overtime to add patrols to some neighborhoods, including the Back of the Yards.
The city has been hit hard by violent crime in recent years, with more than 500 murders in 2012, according to a report this week by the FBI.
By comparison, New York City -- which has a population three times Chicago's -- recorded 419 murders in 2012, the FBI said.
Source
I know, unfortunately, even though these occurrences happen too often, they're not posted a whole lot; in light of some recent events, i thought it would be interesting to discuss. i know a lot of my virulent gun rights friends always like to sarcastically cite Chicago as being so gun free when this stuff happens. i saw a tweet though, that i liked re: that argument...
Argument that guns inside Chicago discredit gun laws overlooks fact that city is neither gated nor moated.
- davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 20, 2013
overall, just sad. :(