11 killed, 46 wounded in Memorial Day weekend violence in Chicago — deadliest in eight years
CHICAGO - The Memorial Day weekend in Chicago was the deadliest in eight years.
By early Tuesday morning, at least 11 people had been killed and another 46 wounded since early Friday evening. The death toll was the highest since 2015, when 12 people were killed. The total number shot, however, was still far below the 71 people wounded by gunfire over the 2016 holiday weekend.
The 6th police district on the South Side recorded the most shooting victims, at least seven, followed by the 11th district on the West Side where at least six people were shot.
The violence came close to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s doorstep when a woman was found stabbed to death less than two blocks from the first-term mayor’s West Side home in Austin.
Extra police officers had been scheduled to work over the weekend, as Johnson and Interim CPD Supt. Fred Waller continued the controversial practice of canceling officers’ days off to boost staffing over violent weekends.
Dozens of peacekeepers also hit the streets to quell violence in "hot spots" on the South and West sides. And hundreds marched against violence Saturday in the Grand Crossing neighborhood.
The weekend’s first homicides happened within a few hours of each other.
The homicide near the mayor’s Austin neighborhood home was discovered just after midnight Saturday in the 5700 block of West Chicago Avenue. A female, whose age was unknown, was stabbed to death and left in a nearby alley. And Monday evening, a shooting was reported about five blocks from the mayor’s home. A man, 36, was shot near the street around 7 p.m. in the 700 block of North Pine Avenue. He was hospitalized in good condition.
Shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, a man, 33, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the armpit in the 7800 block of South Seeley Avenue in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.
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About 2:15 a.m. in Lake View, William Hair, 35, was found on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the chest in the 500 block of West Surf Street. He died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
Just before 3 a.m., a 37-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man were standing on a sidewalk in the 2300 block of West 18th Street in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood when someone opened fire, striking them both in the face, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. They were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where the man died and the woman was listed in critical condition.
About 20 minutes later, Johnathan Salgado, 22, was standing on the sidewalk in the 2400 block of South Homan Avenue in Little Village when he was shot in the chest, according to police. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he later died, police said.
Later in the day, a man was shot to death in the 1100 block of North Ridgeway Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side. The shooting happened about 11:15 a.m., according to police.
Less than an hour later, a woman was killed and three men wounded in a drive-by shooting in Auburn Gresham.
An off-duty Michigan police officer shot himself and seriously wounded another man Saturday afternoon when a gun he was handling went off in a room at Hotel Chicago in River North.
A fatal shooting in Woodlawn was reported late Saturday. A 26-year-old man was pronounced dead after being shot in the back, police said.
Three men were shot early Sunday outside a Mariano’s grocery store at Broadway and Barry in the Lake View neighborhood. All were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital to be treated for their wounds. Two men, 22 and 32, were listed in good condition.
The third man, whose age is unknown, suffered gunshot wounds to the back and chest and was listed in serious condition.
About an hour later, two people were shot while sitting in a car in West Garfield Park. One of them, a 35-year-old man, was pronounced dead after suffering a gunshot wound to the head.
In the evening, a 2-year-old girl was hurt after accidentally discharging a gun she found in the 1500 block of West Jonquil Terrace. She was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, where she was listed in good condition.
Hours later, a 2-year-old boy was wounded after a gun was discharged while he was playing in a bedroom with a known male in the 7900 block of South Hermitage Avenue. He was struck in the hand was taken in fair condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Another three people were wounded in a shooting early Monday in Calumet Heights. A 77-year-old man was shot in the back and a woman, 57, was struck in the head. Both were taken in critical condition to University of Chicago Medical Center. A 59-year-old man was taken to Trinity Hospital and was later transferred in good condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Monday night, a 16-year-old boy was wounded in a drive-by shooting in Austin. He was standing on a sidewalk about 10:20 p.m. in the 4700 block of West Augusta Boulevard when someone drove up in an SUV and an occupant began shooting. The boy was shot twice in the thigh and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, police said.
More than 25 others were wounded in nonfatal shootings across the city from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Last year, 51 people were reported shot in the city over Memorial Day weekend, topping the number for the past five years. Nine people were killed and 42 more were injured, according to Chicago Sun-Times data.