Four people were killed and 23 others injured in weekend shootings across the city, many of which erupted on the West Side during a chaotic social media-inspired block party, Chicago police said.
In the block party attacks, two people were killed and seven others wounded in a matter of four hours within a mile of each other on the West Side. The party, organized by a social media influencer, saw hundreds of people crowding the streets, some of whom jumped atop cars, according to a police report.
For Ald. Jason Ervin’s 28th Ward, communities were “shattered by an unacceptable level of violence” in the attacks early Sunday. He called on West Siders to help police identify suspects in the weekend violence.
“My heart goes out to the families of the victims and to all those whose lives have been changed by this senseless violence,” Ervin said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
“The West Side of Chicago is home to strong, resilient people who deserve to live without fear. We must stand together, reject this violence and commit ourselves to creating a safer future for every resident.”
In one of the West Side attacks, four people were shot in Garfield Park. A 16-year-old boy and 28-year-old man were in serious condition, and a 15-year-old boy and another 28-year-old man were in stable condition, police said. Officers found the four in the 4500 block of West Wilcox Street about 1:40 a.m. Sunday.
An hour later, and less than a mile away, six people were shot, one fatally, at the block party in Austin hosted by “Club JROY,” according to a police report. News of the party spread quickly on social media, and the crowd became rowdy and surged into the hundreds, many of whom were smoking and drinking as loud music roared, police said.
Responding officers found multiple partygoers shot in the 100 block of North La Crosse Avenue about 2:45 a.m. A 22-year-old woman was struck several times in her back and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where, she was pronounced dead, police said.
Three people were left in critical condition: a 17-year-old boy shot in his thigh who was taken to Mount Sinai; a 29-year-old man shot in his leg who was taken to Loretto Hospital in Austin; and an 18-year-old man who was shot in his chest and arm and taken to Stroger Hospital, police said.
A 29-year-old woman was taken to Rush University Medical Center in good condition, and an 18-year-old man, grazed by a bullet on his hand, was treated and released at the scene.
Four blocks away, in the 5000 block of West Maypole Avenue about 4:30 a.m., Kaleb Williams, 18, and another 18-year-old man who were trying to head to the party in an Uber could not make it in the designated party area of Maypole and LaCrosse avenues, because of the “massive crowds of people,” according to a police report. They got out and began walking on the outskirts of the gathering near Lavergne and Maypole avenues when they were approached by gunmen in a car who shot them.
Williams was shot twice in his back and taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 4:49 a.m. The other man was shot in his arm and taken to Mount Sinai where his condition had stabilized.
Another party-related attack happened at 1:40 a.m. in the 200 block of North Lamon Avenue that left a 20-year-old woman shot. She was standing with friends when someone from a “large gathering of about a thousand people,” fired shots, hitting her in her arm, according to a police report.
On the South Side later Sunday morning in Woodlawn, 34-year-old Dominique Hogan was fatally shot in an alley, police said. An unknown person approached Hogan and shot him several times about 5:20 a.m. in the 6600 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Friday evening in Greater Grand Crossing, a 26-year-old man was in the 100 block of West 79th Street about 7 p.m. when two gunmen approached him and fired shots, Chicago police said. The man was wounded in his head and shoulder and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said.
One arrest has been made in a West Side fatal attack, according to police, but no charges have been announced.