CHICAGO _ A day after 10 people were shot at a memorial in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood, police officers in the area were being warned Monday about a "heightened presence" of gang members armed with "numerous" military-style rifles capable of piercing bulletproof vests.
Extra gang and tactical teams have been deployed in the Southwest Side neighborhood as police investigate the mass shooting that killed two and wounded eight in the 2600 block of West 46th Place around 5:20 p.m. Sunday. The victims were gathered at a makeshift memorial for a man in his 20s who was killed 12 hours earlier down the block.
Both shootings were done by two men armed with rifles, police said.
In an alert broadcast over police radio channels Monday morning, officers were told to "expect a heightened presence of Satan Disciples _ that's an increase in activity for SD (Satan Disciples) in connection with the shootings yesterday at 46/ Rockwell."
"Also be aware that this gang is in possession of numerous military-style rifles that are capable of piercing police protection," it added.
In February, the Chicago Tribune reported that gangs in Brighton Park and Back of the Yards on the South Side were increasingly using rifles. Police said this area was the only one in the city where rifles styled after AR-15s and AK-47s were regularly used, a menacing new development in the gang fights.
At the time, more than 30 shootings believed to have been tied to semi-automatic rifles occurred in the two neighborhoods over the previous nine months. At least 46 people were shot in those attacks, 13 fatally.
Sunday's shootings come five days after two Deering District tactical officers were struck by rifle fire in Back of the Yards, southeast of Brighton Park. Police said investigators so far don't believe the officers' shooting is related to what happened over the weekend.
Around 4:30 a.m. Sunday, two men with rifles shot and killed 26-year-old Daniel Cardova in the 2500 block of West 46th Place. His body was found between parked cars on the street, police said.
Throughout the day, a makeshift memorial of heart-shaped balloons, liquor bottles and candles grew down the street. At one point, police warned a group of people gathered there to move on, warning they could be targets, a police source said.
Around 5:20 p.m., two men with rifles stepped from an alley and opened fire on the men and women still standing there, police said.
The two killed at the memorial were a man about 25 and a 29-year-old woman. The man died at the scene, and the woman died at Stroger Hospital, officials said.
The eight injured included six men and two women: a 25-year-old man shot in the right hip and right elbow and in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital; a 26-year-old man shot in the right leg, in good condition at Stroger; a 23-year-old man shot in the right leg, in good condition at Stroger; a 26-year-old man shot in the right leg, in good condition at Stroger; a 26-year-old man shot in both ankles, in good condition at Stroger; a 19-year-old woman shot in the leg, in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital; a 25-year-old woman shot in the right arm, in good condition at Stroger; a 23-year-old man with injuries to his leg, in good condition at Stroger.
First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro called the mass shooting "another brazen act of gang violence on Chicago's streets."
Another police official, Deputy Chief Kevin Ryan, said investigators "have a fairly good idea who we're looking for. We have a fairly good idea of the conflict involved. And right now we're trying to saturate the area."
As of Monday morning, no one was reported in custody.
After the shooting at the memorial, neighbors on porches craned their heads toward the scene as about two dozen police officers scoured the area.
Blocks from the blue flashing lights, children ran toward an ice cream truck and jumped in a bounce house, seemingly unaware of the violence that had just taken place. Closer to the scene, a group of young men yelled at people in passing cars, as well as reporters and police.
When a police SUV drove to 46th Street and Rockwell, one of the men tried to open the car door. As the officer chastised the group, another man held up his phone and shouted, "I got you on camera!"
Officers got out of the SUV and ordered the men to leave. As the group walked north, the man with the camera phone backpedaled and yelled, "I got your face on camera!"
A man wearing a black Chicago Bulls hat spoke with investigators at the scene before quickly walking away. He said two of his children had been taken to Stroger and died in the afternoon shooting.
"I hate violence. I don't know how I feel but I know how to get even," said the man, who declined to identify himself.
Alderman Raymond Lopez, 15th, expressed his frustration with the third rifle shooting in a week and called on neighbors to be vigilant.
"The wake-up call has been here. It's time to act. It's time for each and every one of us to start looking at what's going on on our block, identifying who is a gang member who's selling drugs and who is supporting them in our communities," Lopez said.
The neighborhood consists of well-kept three-story brick homes. In recent years, the number of gang shooting seems to have been on the rise, residents said.
Michelle, who has a 16-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son, said the violence is especially menacing because it's close to Shields Elementary School, a few blocks north.
"The one I'm worried most about is my son because he will be mistaken (for a gang member) and he is in that age group," she said, acting not to be named.
