52 shot — 8 fatally — in Chicago’s most violent weekend this year

At least 52 people were wounded — 8 fatally — in shootings over the weekend in the city’s most violent weekend of the year so far, prompting a Monday press conference from Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson.

A rash of violence left 31 wounded during the first 12 hours of the weekend, which began at 5 p.m. Friday and ended 5 a.m. Monday.

Johnson ordered targeted patrols in areas susceptible to retaliatory incidents in response to the flurry, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.

Authorities seized 81 illegal weapons and arrested 19 people on gun-related charges as a result, Guglielmi said. Several people of interest are being questioned in response to some of the incidents and police are asking those affected for help with the investigations.

The wave of violence comes as police announced a decrease in the amount of shootings in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year.

In the weekend’s latest fatal shooting, two men were killed Sunday while driving through Old Town on the North Side.

The pair were westbound in the 100 block of West North Avenue just before 6 a.m. when people in another vehicle began shooting at them, Chicago police said.

Tavion Matthews, 22, was shot multiple times in the back and 25-year-old Marcus Walker Jr. suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Both men were pronounced dead on the scene.

The other vehicle fled north on LaSalle Drive, authorities said. The victims’ vehicle was found with more than a dozen bullet holes.

A few hours earlier, a 26-year-old woman was shot and killed in Fuller Park.

Denise Weekly was outside in the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue about 4 a.m. when gunfire erupted, authorities said. She was struck in the chest and pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Saturday, a man was found with a fatal gunshot wound in Albany Park on the Northwest Side.

Officials found 20-year-old Piotr Baliczek in a vehicle about 6:29 a.m. in the 4300 block of North Mozart Street, authorities said. He had been shot in the neck and was pronounced dead on the scene. The circumstances of the shooting remain unclear.

Earlier, authorities responding to a ShotSpotter gunshot detection alert discovered a homicide at 4:11 a.m. in the 7700 block of South Morgan in the South Side Gresham neighborhood, according to police.

Christopher Walton, 29, had been shot in the chest and later died at the University of Chicago Medical Center, authorities said.

Late Friday, two people were killed in separate Humboldt Park shootings.

Tabarie Nix, 24, was on the sidewalk about 11:45 p.m. in the 900 block of North Karlov when a gunman walked up and shot him in the neck and arm, authorities said. Nix was pronounced dead at Norwegian American Hospital.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

An hour before that, 32-year-old Tellez Ricardo was standing in the 1500 block of North Keeler when someone in a red car pulled up and fired shots, authorities said. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center with gunshot wounds to the chest and was later pronounced dead.

The Gresham neighborhood was also the scene of the weekend’s earliest slaying.

Anthony Robinson, 37, was walking about 8:45 p.m. in the 1700 block of West 79th Street when a male leaving a gangway fired shots, authorities said. He was struck in the head, chest and shoulder, and pronounced dead at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

In non-fatal gun violence, four people were wounded Saturday in the Gold Coast near Northwestern University’s Chicago campus.

A 28-year-old man and 26-year-old man were standing outside a red van about 2 a.m. in the 300 block of East Chicago Avenue when they heard gunfire and realized they had been shot, police said. They saw several vehicles drive away from the scene.

Two other men in the same block were also shot, police said. A 28-year-old man was grazed in the head, and a 25-year-old was shot in the head.

All four men went to area hospitals where their conditions were stabilized.

At least 40 others were injured in weekend shootings across the city.

Additionally, two women were stabbed to death over the weekend on the South and West sides. Theresa Elkins, 56, was killed in a domestic incident Saturday morning in Austin, while 22-year-old Tearra B. Campbell was found dead with stab wounds Friday night in South Shore.

Over Memorial Day weekend, 41 people were shot and seven killed in Chicago gun violence.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.