31 shot — 1 fatally — in weekend gun violence across Chicago

A man was killed and at least 30 people were wounded over the weekend in gun violence across Chicago.

From 5 p.m Friday to 5 a.m. Monday, shootings extended from Lakeview on the North Side to Chatham on the South Side, and claimed the life of a former Chicago Public Schools employee who was standing outside a birthday party in Englewood.

Ari Armour, 35, was shot dead and three others were wounded about 2:25 a.m.Sunday when they gathered in the 1200 block of West 73rd Place, Chicago Police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Two people in a passing SUV opened fire and shot Armour in his head and back. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Armour previously worked as a security guard and assistant football coach at Hubbard High School, 6200 S. Hamlin Ave., according to relatives who spoke to ABC7 Eyewitness News. The father of two was also a children’s book author.

“He cared too much to be taken so soon,” Antonio Carter, Armour’s longtime friend, told the Sun-Times. “He was a father, husband, brother, uncle and friend and this can’t be life for my people.”

Other victims of the shooting included a 25-year-old woman and two men, ages 19 and 32, police said. They were treated at local hospitals.

The most recent nonfatal shooting happened about 3:40 a.m. Monday in the same neighborhood.

A 29-year-old man was outside in the 5600 block of South Princeton Avenue when someone in a black SUV drove by and fired shots, police said. He was struck in the back, and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.

Sunday afternoon, a kids’ ride turned into a crime scene when a man was shot at a Little Village carnival right next to a Cook County courthouse. As young children waited their turn to use a handful of rides at a carnival that spanned three blocks, a group of men started arguing about 5:05 p.m. near the festival’s entrance at 26th Street and California Avenue, according to police.

At some point during the argument, one of the men took out a gun and opened fire. A 26-year-old was struck in the right leg, police said. His condition stabilized at Mount Sinai Hospital.

About 100 yards from the shooting, a dad stood with his 8-year-old daughter as she waited in line at a tea cups ride. The father, who asked not to be named, said he saw the group of men arguing as they slowly moved toward the entrance of the carnival. Moments later, he saw a crowd of people screaming and running away from the entrance, so he grabbed his daughter and moved her away.

“We live two blocks from here, and we came to this carnival last year, too,” he said. “You just try to have something fun for the kids, and this happens.” Police said Sunday evening that they’re speaking to two people of interest in the shooting, but nobody was in custody.

An additional 25 people were wounded in other shooting during the weekend.

Also of note, a man was killed in a police raid Saturday in the Austin neighborhood and three other people were hurt in accidental shootings.