Nearly 60 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, one of the year’s most violent with more than half the shootings occurring in neighborhoods that have borne the brunt of gun violence all year.
An 11-year-old girl was shot in the back Sunday night by someone in a passing car in the West Pullman neighborhood, less than three hours after a 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg about 2 ½ miles away in Riverdale.
Earlier in the day, eight people were wounded when gunmen opened fire from a silver car in Burnside on the South Side. In Englewood, one man was killed and two others were wounded in separate attacks within an hour and a half and a few miles apart.
And in Austin, two men were killed — one Friday night and the other early Saturday — in shootings about a mile and a half from each other.
More than 30 of the weekend’s 58 shooting victims were attacked in police districts that have been leading the city in homicides: Austin, Englewood, Harrison, Ogden, Calumet and Gresham.
In all, it was the most shootings for a weekend this year, though others have been deadlier. Five people died, compared to 12 over a weekend toward the end of May.
In between the two weekends was a relatively calm Memorial Day weekend, when three people were killed and 34 were wounded. The Chicago Police Department had canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts.
Pressed on the numbers at a news briefing Monday, Police Supt. David Brown said he prefers not to take a “micro look” at crime trends.
“Even though you can look at a weekend or three weekends and say it’s up and down, ... it’s overall trending in a significant downward trend,” Brown said, referring to shootings and homicides from January through June 2021.
However, the department’s own statistics show the number of shooting victims is up more than 20% over the same period last year. And homicides are up 5% compared with 2020.
Shootings from this weekend:
— Around 9 p.m. Sunday, witnesses told officers someone opened fire from a red car in the 11700 block of South Michigan and shot an 11-year-old girl in the lower back. A family member drove her to Roseland Community Hospital, where she was listed in serious condition.
A nearby resident said she heard the shots from inside their home. She told her young children to get away from the windows and get on the floor.
Ashley Santiago and her family say shootings in the area are “an everyday thing, without fail. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is.”
“We can’t really let our kids come out and come play because stuff like this is happening,” she said.
— Eight people were wounded Sunday morning when gunmen opened fire in Burnside on the South Side. The group was standing on the sidewalk about 4 a.m. when two people in a silver car opened fire in the 8900 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, police and fire officials said.
Six of the victims were taken in critical condition to hospitals, fire officials said. Two others were transported in good condition.
— A man was killed in West Englewood Saturday on the South Side. The 26-year-old was on the street about 4:50 p.m. in the 6400 block of South Hoyne Avenue when someone fired shots from a vehicle, Chicago police said.
The man was struck in the chest, hip and neck, police said. He was pronounced dead at Holy Cross Hospital.
— Earlier, a man was killed and another wounded in a shooting in Austin on the West Side. Officers found Gerald Collymore, 39, unresponsive about 1:30 a.m. with gunshot wounds to his head and chest in the 1300 block of North Mayfield Avenue, police said. He was pronounced dead the scene.
A 26-year-old man was hit in the ankle and went to West Suburban Hospital. He was transferred to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was in fair condition, police said.
— On Friday, a man was killed in another shooting in Austin, police said. Michael Cooper was in a backyard in the 5200 block of West Le Moyne Street when someone approached and opened fire about 7:25 p.m., striking him in the head, authorities said. The 23-year-old was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
— A man was fatally shot in West Englewood on the South Side, police said. Jermaine Sanders, 27, was on the sidewalk in the 5600 block of South Marshfield Avenue about 9:20 p.m. Friday when someone fired from a white sedan, authorities said. He was struck in the head and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
— Less than an hour later, a man was found fatally shot in University Village on the Near West Side. Latrell Goodwin, 24, was found with gunshot wounds to his head and chest in a car about 10 p.m. in the 1300 block of West Roosevelt Road, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Contributing: Stefano Esposito
