May 29--Sharan Douglas was more curious than surprised when she saw flashing blue lights and crime tape on her South Shore block as she drove home from her evening class in human genetics.
Douglas had heard shots in her neighborhood several days ago and wondered if what she was seeing could be connected. So she and her sister walked up to the crime scene in the 2100 block of East 67th Street and were told that three men had been shot.
"Every time someone dies, even though I don't know them, it takes away a piece of my heart," Douglas said. "It hurts me."
In this case, no one was killed. Police say three men, ages 28, 30 and 31, were standing outside when a gunman fired at them from an alley around 9:10 p.m. Thursday.
The 28-year-old was shot in the buttocks, the 30-year-old in the arm and the 31-year-old in the left thigh, police said. They were all taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where their conditions were stabilized.
Officers cordoned off a block of 67th Street with yellow and red tape east of Clyde Avenue. A cell phone and a black hat lay on the sidewalk in front of an alley inside the crime scene.
Police shined flashlights in search of evidence and talked to neighbors clustered on the east and west sides of the scene. From time to time, a few residents tried to sneak under the police tape to get to the entrance of a three-story red-brick building.
"You can't do nothing about it," exclaimed a woman. "It's gonna happen regardless."
The woman, who said she lives on the block where the shooting happened, waited for police to finish interviewing her sister, who was in a relationship with one of the wounded men.
The woman and others said they heard about six gunshots.
"We were just right here," a man said, looking at the taped off sidewalk. "We were just right here."
Douglas and her sister, Makia Douglas, were in a crowd of about a dozen people on the west side of the crime scene, watching the police and trying to find out details of what happened.
"I thought it might have been gang-related... I wanted to find out for sure," Sharan Douglas said.
The two sisters have lived together in South Shore for the past couple of years and have previously lived in Englewood.
Makia Douglas, who has a 3-year-old son, said she prefers to stay at home during the evening. "I just stay away from trouble," Makia Douglas said. "Everybody here wants to fight back ... I just stay away."
Sharan Douglas said she wishes she could walk to a nearby gas station for an evening snack without fearing the gun violence.
"It's a big problem... and there are so many factors," Sharan Douglas said, gesturing with her hands as she talked. "Someone needs to rescue these kids. They got that fire in them, they're just directing it in the wrong way."
Makia Douglas, who hopes to move to Atlanta, had a bleaker perspective: She said a part of her is glad when gang members get shot.
"Some of these kids' consciousness is just lost," Makia Douglas said. "I say let them go. Just go."
Sharan Douglas cringed as her sister spoke. "They're just children."
