Man, woman struck by stray bullets during South Shore shootout

Two people were struck by stray gunfire Monday evening in the South Shore neighborhood, about a block from where a man was fatally shot by a Chicago Police officer two days earlier.

About 5:15 p.m., the occupants of a black van and a gray sedan started shooting at each other in the 2000 block of East 70th Street, according to Chicago Police. A 40-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man who were standing nearby were caught in the crossfire.

The woman suffered a gunshot wound to her left forearm and was taken to Jackson Park Hospital, while the man was shot in the thigh and taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. Both their conditions were stabilized.

Area Central detectives were investigating the shooting.

Two days earlier, a CPD officer fatally shot 37-year-old Harith L. Augustus about a block away, setting off a series of violent clashes between police and protesters that lasted much of the night.

The shooting happened about 5:30 p.m. in the 2000 block of West 71st Street, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Augustus was taken to Jackson Park Hospital and pronounced dead 20 minutes later.

Body camera footage released Sunday by CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson appears to show Augustus reaching for a handgun in his waistband after taking off from a group of approaching officers.

Protests erupted quickly after the shooting, injuring four officers, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Demonstrators taunted officers with chants and threw bottles and rocks at them. Police eventually tried to push protesters back, hitting at least a dozen people with batons.

Four people were taken into custody during the melee, Guglielmi said.

Melvin Johnson, 33, was charged with misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and battery, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. He was released on bond following a Monday court hearing.

The other detainees were released without being formally arrested or charged, Guglielmi said.