Woman killed, 5 men hurt in Lawndale shooting

Chicago police investigate after six people were shot July 5, 2020, in the 1400 block of South Millard Avenue in Lawndale. | Carly Behm/Sun-Times

Six people were shot, one of them fatally, when someone fired into a crowd that was setting off fireworks Sunday in Lawndale on the West Side.

The group was lighting fireworks on the sidewalk at 1:14 a.m. in the 1500 block of South Millard Avenue when a white vehicle approached and someone inside started shooting, according to Chicago police.

Thornella Grubbs, 28, was hit in the head and abdomen and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

A 30-year-old man was shot in the left shoulder and knee, a 27-year-old man was hit in the abdomen and a 28-year-old man was shot in the left shoulder and leg, police said. All three were taken to Mount Sinai in critical condition.

A 44-year-old man shot twice in the hip and a 30-year-old man shot in the right leg were both taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.

Debris from the fireworks littered the street as police investigated.

Police initially reported that eight victims had been shot in the incident. Further investigation revealed that six were shot on Millard while three other people were wounded in a separate incident less than 10 minutes later in the 1400 block of South Lawndale Avenue.

Less than two hours earlier, eight people were shot at a gathering in Englewood on the South Side. A 14-year-old boy was among four people killed, while two boys ages 11 and 15 were among the wounded.