Police: 4 dead, 11 wounded in weekend gun violence

SHARE Police: 4 dead, 11 wounded in weekend gun violence

Four people were killed — including a 15-year-old boy — and at least 11 others have been wounded in shootings across the city since Friday night, police said.

The most recent fatal shooting happened about 12:15 a.m. Monday in the Northwest Side Belmont Cragin neighborhood.

A 26-year-old man was standing in an alley with friends in the 2100 block of North Merrimac when someone walked up, yelled gang slogans and shot him in the face, police said.

He was taken to Loyola Univeristy Medical Center in Maywood where he was later pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office could not immediately confirm the fatality.

Sunday afternoon, a man who had just returned home from church was killed in a separate Belmont Cragin shooting.

Police said the 44-year-old man was shot about 2:20 p.m. in the 2800 block of North Lotus.

Family members — who identified him as Luis Zuniga — said the man had pulled up to his driveway after returning home from church and was getting out of his white minivan when someone in a parked vehicle fired shots. Police said the shooter then drove off.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Eric Salvado, 21, who said he is Zuniga’s brother-in-law, was among at least a dozen of his family members at the scene Sunday afternoon, including his two daughters and stepson. Salvado said Zuniga liked fixing cars and was a “really nice guy.”

“I don’t know why this happened,” Salvado said. “This is the first time someone close to me died so I don’t know what to think.”

Saturday evening, an 18-year-old man was found shot to death in the South Side Chatham neighborhood.

Officers responding to a call of a person shot at 5:08 p.m. found Johnathan Cartwright, 18, unresponsive on the sidewalk in the 800 block of East 87th Place, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Cartwright had a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. His home address was unknown Sunday evening. A police source said the shooting was gang-related.

About 10:45 p.m. Friday, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed in the South Deering neighborhood on the Far South Side.

Deon Gilbert was walking in the 10400 block of South Bensley about 10:45 p.m. when the driver of a dark-colored minivan pulled up and shot the boy in the abdomen, authorities said.

Gilbert, of the 8100 block of South Evans, was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he later died, authorities said.

His mother, Ida Harris, said her son was shot while walking to a gas station at 103rd and Torrence with his friend, also 15. He died on the operating table at Comer, she said.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Harris, 45, said on Saturday. “This is just baffling, and I want justice. I need to find out why they did this.”

In the most recent nonfatal shooting, a pizza delivery driver was shot and critically wounded during a robbery attempt on the Northwest Side.

The 31-year-old got out of his vehicle in the 5400 block of North East River Road at 12:24 a.m. to deliver a pizza while his friend waited in the car, police said.

Two males, one armed with a handgun, walked up to the car and announced a robbery as the delivery man was returning. police said. The gunman then shot him in the head and the suspects ran off without any money.

The driver was taken in critical condition to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. His friend wasn’t hurt, police said.

At least 10 other people have been injured in separate shootings since 7:45 p.m. Friday.

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