12 killed, 48 wounded in Memorial Day weekend violence in Chicago

The level of gun violence was the worst since 71 people were shot over the 2016 holiday weekend.

SHARE 12 killed, 48 wounded in Memorial Day weekend violence in Chicago
A police officer walks near a damaged Chicago Park District vehicle after a group of teenagers got into a fight and shots were fired, according to a Chicago Police Department spokesperson, ahead of Memorial Day weekend at North Avenue Beach, Friday, May 26, 2023. No one was injured and one individual was in custody, according to police.

A police officer walks near a damaged Chicago Park District vehicle after a group of teenagers got into a fight and shots were fired Friday afternoon. No one was injured.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

The Memorial Day weekend in Chicago was the most violent in seven years.

By early Tuesday morning, at least 12 people had been killed and another 48 wounded since early Friday evening. The level of gun violence was the worst since 71 people were shot over the 2016 holiday weekend.

The Harrison police district on the West Side recorded the most people shot, at least eight. The Ogden district on the Near West Side and the Gresham district on the South Side each had seven, according to police data.

Two of the homicides occurred in the Harrison district and two in the Gresham district.

The violence came close to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s doorstep when a woman was found stabbed to death less than two blocks from the mayor’s West Side home in Austin.

Extra police officers had been scheduled to work over the weekend, as Johnson and interim Chicago Police Supt. Fred Waller continued the controversial practice of canceling officers’ days off to boost staffing over violent weekends.

Dozens of “peacekeepers” also hit the streets to quell violence in hot spots on the South and West sides. And hundreds marched against violence Saturday in the Grand Crossing neighborhood.

The weekend’s first homicides happened within a few hours of each other.

The homicide near the mayor’s home was discovered just after midnight Saturday in the 5700 block of West Chicago Avenue. A female, whose age is unknown, was stabbed to death and left in a nearby alley.

On Monday evening, a shooting was reported about five blocks from the mayor’s home. A man, 36, was shot near the street around 7 p.m. in the 700 block of North Pine Avenue. He was hospitalized in good condition.

Shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, a man, 33, was found dead with a gunshot wound to his armpit in the 7800 block of South Seeley Avenue in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

About 2:15 a.m. Saturday in Lakeview, William Hair, 35, was found on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his chest in the 500 block of West Surf Street. He died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Just before 3 a.m. Saturday, a 37-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man were standing on a sidewalk in the 2300 block of West 18th Street in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood when someone opened fire, striking them both in the face, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. They were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where the man died and the woman was listed in critical condition.

About 20 minutes later Saturday, Johnathan Salgado, 22, was standing on the sidewalk in the 2400 block of South Homan Avenue in Little Village when he was shot in his chest, according to police. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he later died, police said.

Later Saturday, a man was shot to death in the 1100 block of North Ridgeway Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side. The shooting happened about 11:15 a.m., according to police.

Less than an hour later Saturday, a woman was killed and three men wounded in a drive-by shooting in Auburn Gresham.

An off-duty Michigan police officer shot himself and seriously wounded another man Saturday afternoon when a gun he was handling went off in a room at Hotel Chicago in River North.

A fatal shooting in Woodlawn was reported late Saturday. A 26-year-old man was pronounced dead after being shot in his back, police said.

Three men were shot early Sunday outside a Mariano’s grocery store at Broadway and Barry in the Lakeview neighborhood. All were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital to be treated for their wounds. Two men, 22 and 32, were listed in good condition. The third man, whose age was unknown, was shot his back and chest and listed in serious condition.

About an hour later Sunday, two people were shot while sitting in a car in West Garfield Park. One of them, a 35-year-old man, was pronounced dead after suffering a gunshot wound to his head.

Sunday evening, a 2-year-old girl was hurt after accidentally discharging a gun she found in the 1500 block of West Jonquil Terrace. She was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where she was listed in good condition.

Hours later Sunday, a 2-year-old boy was wounded after a gun was discharged while he was playing in a bedroom with a male he knew in the 7900 block of South Hermitage Avenue. The boy was struck in his hand and taken in fair condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Three people were wounded in a shooting early Monday in Calumet Heights. A 77-year-old man was shot in his back, and a woman, 57, was struck in her head. Both were taken in critical condition to University of Chicago Medical Center. A 59-year-old man was taken to Trinity Hospital and was later transferred in good condition to Christ Medical Center.

Monday night, a 16-year-old boy was wounded in a drive-by shooting in Austin. He was standing on a sidewalk about 10:20 p.m. in the 4700 block of West Augusta Boulevard when someone drove up in an SUV and an occupant began shooting. The boy was shot twice in his thigh and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, police said.

More than 25 others were wounded in nonfatal shootings across the city from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Last year, 51 people were reported shot in the city over Memorial Day weekend, topping the number of people shot the last five years. Nine people were killed, and 42 were injured, according to Chicago Sun-Times data.

Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that this past Memorial Day weekend was the deadliest since 2015. Further reporting showed that last year’s holiday weekend was in fact deadlier. The story has been updated with the new information.

The Latest
Woman no longer wants to be with man who pays no rent and asks for gambling money.
The Bulls have 13 games left in the regular season and an opportunity to break even when they visit the Rockets on Thursday.
“Joakim [Noah] is very driven and motivated,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He’s all about the team, about winning. You can put Coby and Ayo into that category in terms of how they view things.”
Maybe Fields will develop with the Steelers, become a franchise star. It’s more likely he’ll be an updated Mitch Trubisky.