3 dead, 3 wounded in Thursday shootings

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Chicago gun violence Thursday left three people dead and three others wounded, including a 15-year-old boy who was shot to death in the South Shore neighborhood.

About 11:15 p.m., 15-year-old Pierre Williams was walking in the 6900 block of South East End Avenue when someone in a passing beige-colored van opened fire, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Williams was hit in the groin and was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he died, authorities said. He lived a block away from where he was shot. It was the last shooting during the 24-hour period.

Another person was fatally shot Thursday in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side. Lonnie Smith, 47, was standing in front of his porch about 8:30 p.m. when someone opened fire from a passing vehicle in the 5500 block of South Lafayette, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Smith was shot in the back of his head and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died, authorities said.

Thursday’s first fatal shooting happened about 12:50 a.m. in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side. Officers responded to the 5200 block of South Peoria and found 40-year-old Sid Taylor lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Taylor was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. He lived on the same block where he was shot. The circumstances of the shooting were unknown, according to police.

The last nonfatal shooting Thursday wounded a man as he stood on a sidewalk in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side. About 4:10 a.m., the 24-year-old was standing among a group of people in the 7500 block of South Peoria when a blue Chevrolet car drove by and a male inside fired shots, police said. The man was shot in the foot and was taken to Saint Bernard Hospital, where he was in good condition.

Hours earlier, a man was shot in a drive-by attack in the West Englewood neighborhood. The 20-year-old was a passenger in a vehicle about 2:40 a.m. in the 5500 block of South Ashland when someone in a passing vehicle opened fire, according to police. The man was shot twice in the lower back. He took himself to Stroger Hospital, where he was in good condition.

The first reported shooting Thursday happened at 12:11 a.m. in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the North Side. A 25-year-old man was walking in the 1200 block of West Albion when a light-colored car drove by and someone inside fired shots, police said. The man was shot in his abdomen, leg and lower back and was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was in serious condition.

On Wednesday, a 3-year-old girl was wounded in a shooting. She was among seven people who were shot within 24 hours.