CHICAGO _ Five people have been killed and three others have been shot in Chicago, including a double shooting when a man and a woman were walking on Christmas Day.
After 4:30 p.m. a man, approximately 40 years old, was found on East 79th Street in Avalon Park, with bullet wounds to the back, leg and head, authorities said.
He was taken to South Shore Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Five shell casings were found near the entrance of Labor of Love Apostolic Church on the corner of Burnham Avenue and 79th Street. A pool of blood could be seen on the church's front step near a pair of orange medical gloves.
Detectives walked up and down the street, shining flashlights on nearby homes in search of evidence. Passersby hurried past the crime scene. Calls to the church and its pastor were not immediately returned.
Earlier, authorities responded to a call of a shooting in the area of Chicago and Kostner avenues in the Humboldt Park neighborhood about 1:40 p.m., according to Officer Michelle Tannehill of the Chicago Police Department.
Few details were available on that shooting, she said. The call came in that a man of unknown age had been shot on Chicago Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the scene, she said.
At 12:20 p.m. a 21-year-old man was driving on South Seeley Avenue in West Englewood when he was shot at by some unknown occupants in a GMC vehicle, police said. He was shot in the side and drove himself to Holy Cross Hospital. He was later transported to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was listed in stable condition.
About 10:40 a.m. the man and woman were shot while walking along West Roosevelt in North Lawndale. According to police they found a 29-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds to the back and a 27-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the right knee.
They were taken to Mount Sinai with the man in guarded condition and the woman in stable. Detectives are investigating.
An 18-year-old man was shot and killed about 1:30 a.m. while driving in Gage Park, according to police. The man, who had gunshot wounds to the back and neck, later was pronounced dead.
At 12:49 a.m., a 21-year-old, later identified as Niko Walker, was shot in the head on East 76th Street, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Walker, who was killed in South Shore, could be seen on the ground of a snow-covered yard near a large tree. Two cars were parked in the yard. Across the street, motorists continued to stop by a busy gas station.
A man who goes by the nickname "Wheels" stopped at the gas station after seeing a man upset about the shooting. He said he knew the man who was killed.
"He was a good dude," Wheels said. "He probably got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Wheels was left paralyzed after a 1992 drive-by shooting in the South Shore area.
"It's like lightning striking the same place," he said.
As officers combed the yard for evidence, family members continued to arrive at the scene. They declined to comment.
Family and friends at times argued among one another. Other times, they grew angry with police officers because Walker's body remained outside.
A police vehicle arrived at the scene early Sunday to pick up the body. A group of women watched officers place the body into the vehicle.
"That's my baby!" one woman yelled.
The Christmas Day shootings marked a progressive uptick in bloodshed during the holiday weekend. One other person was shot dead Saturday and nine others were wounded in shootings.
