CHICAGO — Three people were shot early Tuesday in the Back of the Yards, leaving one person in critical condition and bringing the total number of gun violence victims over Memorial Day weekend to three dead and 34 wounded, according to Chicago Tribune data.
Superintendent David Brown, during a morning news conference, said there had been four homicides during the long weekend. Police spokeswoman Kellie Bartoli said that figure included a Friday morning homicide, which the department’s news affairs division doesn’t consider part of the weekend when compiling statistics. The Tribune counts holiday weekend shooting numbers from 3 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. the day after a Monday holiday.
Even so, Brown said, the long holiday weekend that’s generally considered the start of summer — the season when gun violence typically spikes in Chicago — saw a noteworthy decline in shootings compared to recent years.
“Over the four-day weekend, Memorial Day, there were 4 murders, which was the lowest in 10 years,” Brown said, adding that the tally won’t be low enough until it reaches zero.
“We have a lot of work to do. No one’s celebrating anything. Four people lost their lives over the weekend. And we are in prayer for those families, but we’re also determined to continue to have an effect on violence through this collaborative approach,” he said.
Last year’s Memorial Day weekend saw the worst bloodshed since 2015 with 10 people fatally shot and at least 40 others wounded despite a stay-at-home order prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Sunday and Monday, there was one fatal shooting and 20 people shot and wounded. Previously, two men were killed and 10 others were injured in holiday weekend shootings from 3 p.m. Friday to late Saturday night.
A total of four people were shot Tuesday morning before 6 a.m., according to a Chicago police media notification. Three males were hurt in the Back of the Yards shooting and a woman was shot in Avondale.
Officers were called to the 4700 block of South Ada Street about 2:15 a.m., police said. Three males had been standing outside when someone in a gray SUV began shooting at them, before driving off north on 47th Street, according to police.
One of the males was dropped off at Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head and one to the hand, police said. He had been listed in critical condition and he was listed as a “John Doe,” Bartoli said, because his name and age were not known.
An 18-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the foot and he was taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition. A third male suffered a graze wound to his right leg and he refused medical treatment, police said.
“The victim who refused medical treatment is also a ‘John Doe,’ as he did not provide his name to responding officers,” Bartoli said in an email.
No arrests had been made.
A 26-year-old woman was shot in the 2200 block of West Diversey Avenue in Avondale about 2:20 a.m.
Police said she had been standing outside with several people when, she told police, she heard “several shots fired” from “different directions.” She noticed she had been shot once in the leg and she was taken by private vehicle to Thorek Memorial Hospital where she was listed in good condition.
During the news conference, Brown credited collaboration with outreach groups in helping to curb the violence this year. They were unable to assist law enforcement last year because of the pandemic, he said.
“They really have stepped into the gap. Particularly regarding some of our neighborhoods that are increasingly more violent than others. They’re there till 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning with our Chicago police officers, intervening in ways that Chicago police officers can’t, to reduce the violence,” he said. “This approach really is a great launch for the rest of the summer.”
He also credited the department’s “increasingly data-driven” approach to trying to stem the violence.
“We hyper-focus on the most dense parts of the city that have the highest violence. And then once we have success there, obviously we try to scale that success,” he said.
But morale within the department has been low and Brown said he is trying to avoid another long stretch of canceled days off with officers being required to work 12-hour shifts. Last summer that went on for a nearly 20-day stretch, which Brown said he wants to avoid.
“Obviously, that is not sustainable,” he said.
