2 dead, 24 wounded in New Year’s weekend shootings across Chicago

SHARE 2 dead, 24 wounded in New Year’s weekend shootings across Chicago
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Two men were killed and 8 other people were wounded in the first 24 hours of 2018, raising the New Year’s holiday weekend gun violence toll to two dead and at least 24 others hurt in shootings across Chicago since Friday night.

The latest fatal shooting happened shortly before 5 p.m. Monday in the South Side Fuller Park neighborhood. Officers found John Harris, 34, in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the neck shortly before 5 p.m. in the 4700 block of South Princeton, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Harris was pronounced dead on the scene, authorities said. He lived in the Englewood neighborhood.

Overnight Monday, another man was shot dead about 2:20 a.m. in the Avondale neighborhood on the Northwest Side, marking the first reported homicide in Chicago in 2018. About 2:20 a.m., 51-year-old Janusz C. Kolodziejczyk was driving a Toyota Camry south on Pulaski when it crashed into a fence in the 3900 block of West Cornelia, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Kolodziejczyk had suffered a gunshot wound to his back and was pronounced dead at the scene. He lived in the Schorsch Village neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

The weekend’s latest nonfatal shooting happened at 3:27 a.m. Monday in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side. A 24-year-old man was standing on the sidewalk in the 500 block of West 127th Place when another male walked up and shot him in the left leg, police said. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition stabilized.

Just over an hour earlier, a man was wounded in a shooting in the West Rogers Park neighborhood on the North Side. The 24-year-old was involved in a fight about 2:15 a.m. at a home in the 6100 block of North Claremont when another male pulled out a handgun and shot him in the face, police said. He was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, where his condition stabilized.

About a half hour earlier, a 31-year-old man was shot during a fight in the Loop. At 1:44 a.m., officers saw a group of four males fighting in the street in the first block of North Wabash, police said. A shot was then fired, striking the man in his abdomen. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition stabilized. Another male who was injured in the fight was taken to Northwestern with bruises to his face and body. His condition wasn’t immediately known. A weapon was recovered at the scene. Two males were being questioned by Area Central detectives.

Two people were shot about 15 minutes earlier in the West Side Austin neighborhood. They were in an SUV about 1:30 a.m. in the 5400 block of West Jackson when a white sedan pulled up and someone inside opened fire, police said. A 21-year-old man was shot in the left side of the his head and his left arm, and an 18-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound to her left wrist. They showed up at Stroger Hospital, where their conditions stabilized.

Minutes earlier, a man was wounded in a shooting in the East Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. The 35-year-old was standing on the sidewalk at 1:24 a.m. in the 8100 block of South Drexel when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He suffered a gunshot wound to the right shoulder and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where his condition stabilized. He was being transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital.

The year’s first reported shooting happened about 12:05 a.m. in the Belmont Gardens neighborhood. A 24-year-old man was walking on the sidewalk in the 4000 block of West Oakdale when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He suffered a gunshot wound to his buttocks and was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where his condition stabilized.

At least 16 other people were wounded in shootings across Chicago between 8:30 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Last year, six people were killed and 49 others were wounded in Chicago over the New Year’s holiday weekend. Follow city gun violence with the Chicago Sun-Times weekend shootings tracker.

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