16 shot, 2 fatally in Fourth of July gun violence across Chicago

CHICAGO - At least two people were killed and 14 others wounded in Independence Day gun violence across Chicago.

A single shooting killed one man and wounded three others in Humboldt Park on the West Side.

They were standing outside about 11:30 a.m. near Iowa Street and Homan Avenue when a someone inside a car drove by and fired shots, Chicago police said.

A 32-year-old man was killed, police said. His name has not been released. Two other men and a teenage boy were treated for gunshot wounds.

Officers tried to chase a white sedan involved in the shooting but lost sight of it, police said. Police personnel tracked the car on city cameras and found it — but no suspects — by the early afternoon, CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson told reporters a few hours later.

The shooting was the largest so far during the holiday weekend and came less than 24 hours after three men were hurt in another shooting just a half mile away.

One officer guarding the crime scene said: “Somebody’s Monday meeting isn’t going to go well” — a thinly veiled reference to Johnson’s weekly meeting with Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Johnson, speaking at a 4 p.m. news conference near Navy Pier, said police recovered 35 weapons and made eight arrests between 6 p.m. Wednesday and mid-afternoon Thursday.

At the time Johnson spoke, seven people had been shot — two fatally — in that time span. Asked to compare that total to previous years’ Independence Day violence, Johnson said he wouldn’t comment because he didn’t want to “jinx” the rest of the weekend.

“You know what, I think right now you’ll never hear me say we’re satisfied with anything,” Johnson said. “But let’s see how the rest of the weekend plays out. And I say that because I don’t want to — I’m not superstitious — but I just don’t want to jinx anything.”

In the two hours after Johnson’s press conference began, two more people were shot.

About 4 p.m., right as Johnson stepped to a podium to speak with reporters, a woman was struck by stray gunfire in a shooting that wounded another person in South Shore.

People were arguing on a sidewalk about 4 p.m. in the 2800 block of East 77th Street when someone in the group took out a gun and fired shots, police said.

The man was struck in the back and taken in serious condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. A woman walking on a sidewalk and struck by gunfire in both legs was seriously wounded, police said. She was not involved in the argument.

The shooter fled northbound on South Shore Drive, police said. No arrests have been made.

In other Fourth of July gun violence:

• About 11:40 p.m., a man realized he was shot in the leg in the 8200 block of South Shore Drive in South Chicago, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.
• about 8:55 p.m., a 21-year-old man was seriously wounded in a shooting in the 4000 block of South Maplewood Avenue in Brighton Park, police said. He was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital for treatment. He was being uncooperative with investigators.
• about 1:30 a.m., a woman died after struggling over a weapon with someone she was drinking with in West Garfield Park. Police said charges were pending against the alleged shooter. Lisheka Haggard was shot and killed inside a home in the 4300 block of West Wilcox Street, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. The two fought over the weapon and it discharged, striking 34-year-old Haggard in the head, authorities said. She died at the scene.
• about 1:10 a.m., a 16-year-old boy was wounded in West Pullman. He was in the backseat of a vehicle when someone came up on foot and fired shots, striking him in the arm, police said. He was in good condition.
• police reported that a 23-year-old man was shot in the arm in the 8800 block of South Loomis Street about 4:30 p.m., but it was later determined that he had not been shot, and was only lacerated by shattered glass, police said.
• police reported that someone shot an 18-year-old in the foot about 9:40 p.m. in the 5100 block of South Damen Avenue but later determined it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

At least six others were hurt in shootings within city limits on July Fourth.

Additionally, at Navy Pier, three people were stabbed, and more than a dozen others were trampled after a fireworks display.

A year ago, seven people were wounded in Chicago gun violence on the Fourth of July.