4 dead, 19 wounded in Thanksgiving weekend shootings

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Four people have been killed and 19 others wounded in citywide shootings over the Thanksgiving weekend, including a teenage boy shot dead by an off-duty officer during an armed robbery early Thanksgiving Day.

About 2:20 a.m., the officer was sitting in his personal vehicle in the 5800 block of North Talman when two teenagers approached, Chicago Police Deputy Chief Al Nagode told reporters at the scene. After the 16-year-old pointed a handgun at the officer, the officer handed over his belongings.

The second boy, 17, reached into the car and patted the officer down, finding a second wallet that contained the officer’s CPD star, Nagode said. The 16-year-old then pointed his gun at the officer and told him not to move.

The officer shot the 16-year-old, and the other boy ran away with the officer’s belongings.

The 16-year-old was brought to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. He was identified as Sarge Junior, with a last known address in West Rogers Park, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

The other teen was arrested shortly later and charged with a felony count of armed robbery with a firearm and two misdemeanor counts of theft, police said. He was expected to appear in juvenile court on Friday.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating the use of force by police and the officer involved will be placed on administrative duties for 30 days, police said.

The stepfather of Junior had reported him missing — along with the stepfather’s weapon — Wednesday night, Nagode said. A weapon recovered at the scene matched the description his stepfather provided.

The latest deadly shooting this weekend happened Sunday morning in the Homan Square neighborhood on the West Side, police said.

A man in his 20s was found dead inside of a vehicle in the 3600 block of West Lexington, according to preliminary information from Chicago police. He had suffered a single gunshot wound to his chest. The Cook County medical examiner’s office didn’t immediately confirm his death.

On Friday, one man was killed and and another wounded in a drive-by attack in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side.

The two men were sitting in a vehicle at 10:08 a.m. in the 900 block of West 50th Street when a white Porsche SUV drove by and a passenger shot at them, police said.

Thaddeus Flanagan, 29, was shot in the upper left side of his chest and taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m., police and the medical examiner’s office said. He lived in the West Pullman neighborhood.

The other man, 23, was treated for a gunshot to the lower abdomen, police said. After the shooting, the Porsche drove off eastbound on 50th and northbound on Halsted.

Another man died Thanksgiving morning in a shooting in the Longwood Manor neighborhood on the South Side.

Jatoine Jackson, 20, was found lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds after witnesses heard gunfire at 11:46 a.m. in the 1200 block of West 96th Street, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The last shooting of the weekend left a man wounded in front of a gas station in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side.

The 21-year-old was standing near the front door of a gas station with a group of males when someone inside a black SUV fired shots at 9:43 p.m. in the 5000 block of West Division Street, police said. He was shot in his left arm and was taken to West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, where his condition had stabilized.

Late Saturday, a 15-year-old was hit by a bullet at night in the Fernwood neighborhood on the Far South Side.

He was walking just before 10:30 p.m. in the 10100 block of South Emerald Avenue when someone exited a white two-door Lexus and fired shots, police said. The boy was taken to the Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. His condition had stabilized. No one was in custody.

Another teenage boy was critically wounded Friday night in the Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

The 14-year-old boy was standing on a sidewalk just before 9 p.m. in the 2300 block of South Sacramento Avenue when someone approached him and fired shots, police said. He was shot in his chest and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Thanksgiving Day’s first reported gun violence came from an unknown shooter who seriously wounded a man in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side.

At 12:28 a.m. Thursday, the 36-year-old was walking in the 4400 block of West Jackson Boulevard when he was shot by a person inside a passing silver Chevy Traverse, police said. The man was struck in the back and taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition.

A Wednesday evening shooting left a teenage boy in critical condition in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

The 17-year-old was found shot at 8:46 p.m. inside an alley in the 3700 block of West Montrose, police said. Witnesses heard gunshots, but no one saw the shooting occur. The boy, who was unable to speak due to the bullet wound in his back, was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition.

Other shootings were reported:

• at 10:11 a.m. Sunday in the Portage Park neighborhood’s 5100 block of East Cullom;
• at 3:22 a.m. Sunday in the West Englewood neighborhood’s 6800 block of South Winchester;
• at 6:10 p.m. Saturday in the Pullman neighborhood’s 1100 block of East 95th Street;
• at 7:28 p.m. Friday in the Jefferson Park neighborhood’s 4600 block of North Milwaukee;
• at 5:47 a.m. Friday in the Gresham neighborhood’s 900 block of West 86th Street;
• at 11:56 p.m. Thursday in the West Garfield Park neighborhood’s 100 block of North Kildare;
• at 11:16 p.m. Thursday in the Brighton Park neighborhood’s 3000 block of West 41st Street;
• at 7:15 p.m. Thursday in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood’s 500 block of East 48th Street;
• at 3:48 p.m. Thursday in the Burnside neighborhood’s 1200 block of East 95th Street;
• at 3:50 a.m. Thursday in the Humboldt Park neighborhood’s 2500 block of West Division;
• at 1 a.m. Thursday in the Back of the Yards neighborhood’s 5200 block of South May; and
• about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday in the Homan Square neighborhood’s 1100 block of South Central Park Avenue.

Thanksgiving weekend began 5 p.m. Wednesday and concluded 5 a.m. Monday.

In total, at least four people were shot, one fatally, in citywide gun violence on Sunday. Two people were wounded on Saturday. One person died and four others were wounded on Friday. Thanksgiving Day saw 10 people shot — two fatally. And two people were killed and three others were wounded on Wednesday.

No one was shot Monday morning, as a blizzard pummeled northern Illinois with snowfall and high-speed winds.

Last year, seven men were killed and at least 36 other people were wounded in shootings across Chicago during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.