2 dead, 16 wounded in weekend shootings on South, West sides

Two people were killed and at least 16 others have been wounded in shootings since Friday night on the city’s South and West sides.

The most recent fatal shooting happened late Saturday in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood.

Two 23-year-old men were standing in the 7400 block of South Cottage Grove at 11:55 p.m. when two males walked up and began shooting, police said.

One of the men–later identified as Theo Hike–was shot multiple times in the torso, head and neck and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:35 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Hike’s home was a block north in the 7300 block of South Cottage Grove, authorities said.

The other man was shot in the back and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition. Police said the shooters ran away after the attack.

Saturday afternoon, another man was killed in a separate shooting in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.

Marcus D. Franklin was on a sidewalk in the 7200 block of South Green at 12:55 p.m. when someone walked up and shot him repeatedly in the neck and chest, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Franklin, of the 700 block of West 61st Street, was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:22 p.m., authorities said.

The most recent nonfatal shooting happened about 6:45 p.m. Sunday on the West Side.

A person was shot in the foot near Madison and Rockwell, according to preliminary information from police. The male was taken to Stroger Hospital but additional details weren’t immediately available.

Less than an hour earlier, two teenage boys were shot in a Back of the Yards neighborhood park.

The boys, 15 and 16, were standing near the basketball court about 5:50 p.m. at Micek Park, 5311 S. Hamilton, when a gunman got out of a gray car and started firing, police said.

The younger boy was shot in the right buttocks and the older in the left elbow. The boys–who both have documented gang ties–were taken to Stroger Hospital, where their conditions stabilized, police said.

At least 12 other people have been wounded in shootings on the city’s South and West sides since 9 p.m. Friday.