3 killed, 10 others wounded Tuesday in Chicago shootings
CHICAGO - At least three people were killed and 10 others were wounded in shootings Tuesday in Chicago.
In the first fatal shooting of the day, two men were sitting in a parked car in the 7400 block of North Wolcott Avenue when a gunman walked up and began firing just after midnight, Chicago police said.
A 21-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to the head and body and was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.
The other man, 20, was shot in the abdomen and leg and was taken in fair condition to the hospital, police said.
A man, 32, was shot several times in a parking lot in the 3700 block of West Chicago Avenue around 10:40 a.m., police said.
He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and pronounced dead, police said.
Two men were inside of a vehicle about 4:30 p.m. in the 5100 block of South Hermitage Avenue when someone opened fire, police said.
One man, 24, was shot in the legs and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, police said.
Chaundel Gentry, 25, was also shot and taken to Stroger, where he was pronounced dead just after 5 p.m., police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
Four people were wounded when two gunmen opened fire on an SUV stopped at a light in the Loop.
The blue Dodge Durango was stopped in the 400 block of South Wells Street when the gunmen fired from a sidewalk around 1:35 a.m., according to police.
A woman, 26, who was crossing the street was hit in the left leg and was taken in fair condition to Stroger Hospital.
Three people in the Durango were dropped off at Stroger: A 38-year-old man shot in the back and listed in critical condition; a 31-year-old woman shot in the back and legs and also listed in critical condition; and a 28-year-old woman shot in the left leg and listed in fair condition.
The shooting follows several downtown attacks over the weekend. Two people were hit by gunfire in an alley in the Chicago Theater District Sunday, including a stagehand for a musical that was later canceled for the evening. A teen was fatally shot inside a Streeterville hotel, and a woman was killed outside 10 Bowling Lounge in River North.
Shootings have sharply risen in the Central and Near North police districts covering the Loop and River North. The districts have seen 23 homicide and shooting victims through April 30 of this year. That’s a 64% jump compared to the same time period in 2021, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of police data.
The area had already seen a big rise in shooting and homicide victims over the past couple of years. In 2021, there were 139 homicide and shooting victims, a 60% increase over the 87 victims in 2020 and a 167 % increase over the 52 in those districts in 2019.
The spike in the heart of the city comes as police announced that shootings trended downward by 16% across the city so far this year — meaning the downtown area continues to head in the wrong direction.
After the new numbers were released Monday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said city officials need to "step up our efforts downtown."
"Particularly distressing is, again, the number of young people that seemingly are involved in acts of violence," Lightfoot said at a news conference. "It’s clearly not acceptable and that’s why we’ve got to keep doing, I think, the things that we know are working."
Police Supt. David Brown said his department is increasing patrols in the downtown area — as it is in other parts of the city.
"We are not going to be a part of treating one neighborhood differently than another based on whatever reasons," Brown said. "All of these neighborhoods are important to us as the police department. We are adding resources not only to the downtown — we are adding to the downtown — but the CTA needs more resources and so does areas on the South Side and areas on the West Side."
At least seven others were wounded in citywide shootings Tuesday.
A person was killed and six others were wounded in shootings across Chicago Monday.