An outraged Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday condemned the “level of evil and depravity” that started with the shooting of a pregnant woman and ultimately left seven people in the same South Shore neighborhood dead over a 12-hour period.
“There is a level of evil and depravity about an individual [who] would shoot a pregnant woman,” the mayor said. “There is a level of evil and depravity of an individual who would walk into a restaurant and, in front of a mother, shoot her sons.
“Now, there are other people [who] I believe . . . opportunity and jobs will make a difference in their life. For the people who did what they did yesterday, they thought that was their job.”
The mayor said there is “only one place” for those responsible for the South Shore bloodbath.
“They do not belong in our society. They do not belong in our city. And they do not belong on the streets in the communities and neighborhoods of the city of Chicago,” he said. “They belong behind bars.”
Last night and again Friday morning, Emanuel said he was briefed on the investigation into the South Shore shootings by Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, Chief of Patrol Fred Waller and by First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro.
“They will talk to you about the leads they have in each of these situations and I’ll leave that part to them. But, they briefed me on that and the progress they’re making on getting the perpetrators of these individual crimes,” the mayor said.
The mayor spoke to reporters at a groundbreaking ceremony for the a new 12-story building at 210 N. Carpenter that will support affiliates of McDonald’s, which is also moving its corporate headquarters to the West Loop.
The new, $47.2 million Fulton Market project will house 960 employees and contribute $2 million to the so-called “Neighborhood Opportunity Fund.” Emanuel created the fund — with contributions from developers authorized to build bigger and taller downtown projects — to help rebuild long-dormant commercial strips on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
