43 shot, 5 fatally, in Halloween weekend gun violence

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - At least 38 people were wounded and five others were killed, including a teenage boy, in citywide shootings over the Halloween weekend.

The weekend gun violence surpassed last year, when two were killed and 28 wounded in shootings over the same period of time, from 5 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday.

The number of shootings ratcheted up day-by-day this weekend, with three wounded and one killed Friday night, 11 wounded and one killed on Saturday, and 25 shot — three fatally — on Sunday. One person was wounded early Monday in a shooting that shut down the inbound Dan Ryan during rush hour.

The latest homicide killed a man and wounded a woman Sunday morning in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side. About 10:55 a.m., Kenjuan D. Scott, 23, and a woman were riding in a vehicle in the 5500 block of South LaSalle when someone inside a black, four-door Audi fired shots, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Scott was shot in the chest and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died, authorities said. He lived in the Near West Side. The woman, 24, was treated at the same hospital for a gunshot wound to her leg.

Area Central detectives were conducting a homicide investigation.

Earlier that morning, a teenage boy died during a drive-by attack in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the South Side. John Pena, 16, was walking in an alley about 2:15 a.m. in the 6200 block of South Maplewood when someone drove up in a car and fired shots, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Pena was shot in the chest and shoulder and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died. He lived in the Little Village neighborhood.

“He was a good kid. He was very respectful to me when I was his substitute teacher,” community activist Raul Montes Jr. said of Pena. “He lost his mom at a young age. I remember his mom got killed when he was 4 or 5 years old. He grew up without his dad and he moved from home to home.”

A teenage man who was also shot brought himself to Holy Cross Hospital with a gunshot wound to the foot, police said. His condition stabilized.

Less than two hours earlier a man died and a woman was hospitalized following a double drive-by shooting in Englewood. At 12:20 a.m., a 30-year-old man and 21-year-old woman were standing on a sidewalk in the 5900 block of South Peoria Street when someone in an SUV fired shots, police said.

Deshawn Jacobs was shot in the neck and taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died later that morning, authorities said. The woman, also taken there, had a gunshot wound in her right leg and her condition was stabilized. Jacobs lived in the Englewood neighborhood.

A man was killed in a drive-by attack Saturday evening in the Calumet Heights neighborhood on the Far South Side. About 5:45 p.m., the 33-year-old was inside his vehicle in the 2000 block of East 95th Street when another vehicle pulled up next to him and someone inside fired shots, police said.

The man was shot in his back and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died, police said. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office hasn’t released his identity.

The weekend’s first deadly shooting — killing a 20-year-old man and wounding a 17-year-old boy —happened Friday night in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.

The two were standing on a sidewalk about 10:30 p.m. in the first block of North Karlov Avenue when someone approached them and fired shots, police said. Detavious Beeks, 20, suffered a gunshot wound to his head and later died at Stroger Hospital, authorities said.

The teenager was treated for a gunshot wound to his back at the same hospital, police said. He was listed in critical condition. Shortly after, gunfire rang out in the air from nearby shootings as police investigated the crime scene.

In nonfatal shootings, a 26-year-old woman was wounded early Saturday during a fight in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.

Early Saturday, a woman was shot after fighting with another person on an East Garfield Park sidewalk.

The woman was arguing with someone on a sidewalk at 12:25 a.m. in the 3600 block of West Gladys Avenue when she realized she had been shot, police said. She was struck in her leg and was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where her condition stabilized.

Also early Saturday, a man was shot inside an alley next to the River North neighborhood. At 4:39 a.m., the 21-year-old was standing between the first blocks of West Illinois and Hubbard streets when he was struck by a bullet in the left leg, police said. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

Last weekend, three people were killed and 24 others wounded in a series of citywide shootings from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.