• Downtown again rocked by violence; Mayor Lightfoot calls mass shooting

    From Mark Levine@21:1/5 to All on Thu May 26 06:57:16 2022
    XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics
    XPost: alt.crime

    By Paige Fry, Armando L. Sanchez and Shanzeh Ahmad
    Chicago Tribune

    May 20, 2022 at 5:41 pm

    Paramedics transport a person who was wounded by gunfire at the scene of a
    mass shooting near Chicago Avenue and State Street on May 19, 2022, in
    Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

    Violence again flared downtown late Thursday when nine people were shot,
    two fatally, near a fast-food restaurant and CTA station on the Near North Side, a shooting that came just days after the fatal shooting of a
    teenager near The Bean during a mass gathering of young people last
    weekend.

    The back-to-back high-profile shootings downtown drew further response
    Friday from the mayor and police leaders, who have struggled to contain
    the violence as summer looms. Both Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Superintendent David Brown immediately blamed Thursday’s shooting on parents not keeping
    track of their children and a flood of guns entering the city, many
    carried by young people who now use them in fights that in years past may
    not have been deadly.

    Lightfoot also again called for a visible police presence downtown,
    including fixed posts at the corner where the shooting Thursday took place
    at Chicago Avenue and State Street, and at the Chicago Avenue stop on the
    CTA Red Line. Brown said police had in fact instantly created a fixed post
    in the area and at the CTA station in question, in addition to roving
    units.

    Lightfoot said too many youths have said they need to carry guns to feel
    safe, and that needs to be addressed.

    “You have a ticking time bomb in your hand, in your pocket, in your
    purse,” she said.

    The latest shooting happened about 10:40 p.m. Thursday in the 800 block of North State Street outside the Chicago Avenue subway station and a
    McDonald’s. Police said one person started firing a gun into a crowd
    during a “personal conflict” outside the fast-food outlet, then the
    shooter and others fled into the Red Line station where one person was
    injured on the third rail of the subway tracks.

    One person, believed to be the shooter, was arrested and charges were
    pending, Brown said.

    The McDonald’s and nearby blocks have been a hot spot off and on over the
    past few years. Corporate offices for the fast-food giant declined to
    comment on the company’s commitment to the location, which was closed by
    the city Friday.

    The mayor resisted any call to bring out the National Guard to deal with violence, as the city saw during days of unrest two summers ago. The main
    issue is juveniles with guns, the mayor said again, not any issue that
    military strength could address.

    Around lunchtime Friday, State and Chicago was packed with people. Many of
    them walked up to the closed McDonald’s, which had police tape in front of
    one door and traffic cones blocking the drive-thru.

    One passerby said, “Oh, that was this McDonald’s?”

    “Crazy what’s happening in our country right now,” another said, as he
    changed course from McDonald’s to a Taco Bell next door.

    Jim Smaron, a retired accountant who has lived in the area since 2010,
    said when he first moved to the neighborhood, he considered it safe.

    “It seems like in the last three, four years, it’s gotten worse,” Smaron
    said. “It’s the first time I’ve heard of a fatal shooting in the area from
    what I can remember.”

    He said the area around the McDonald’s, especially with the Red Line right
    out front, has “always been a problem,” and with the new Whole Foods kitty-corner to the McDonald’s, more and more people will be drawn to the
    area.

    “It goes away a little bit when the police are patrolling, like they are
    now, but it doesn’t solve the problem,” he said. “Mayor Lightfoot talked
    about improving crime, and it doesn’t seem to be improved. Not only around
    here but in all of Chicago. I can’t quite understand what’s going on.”

    The 18th District, where the McDonald’s is located, has seen an increase
    from five to 15 shooting victims this year through May 18, according to official police data. That total is expected to jump after Thursday
    night’s shooting.

    A worker sweeps up broken glass from a door of a McDonald's restaurant in Chicago after a mass shooting Thursday night. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

    The city had been shocked earlier in the week by the fatal shooting of 16- year-old Seandell Holliday near The Bean in Millennium Park. It was
    unclear what role new rules that went into effect Thursday closing
    Millennium Park to unaccompanied minors might have played in moving groups
    of young people to other parts of downtown.

    Brown rejected the idea the Millennium Park limits on youths played into
    the shooting or the moving of the gathering place for younger people. He
    noted the corner has been a “long-standing” problem spot and blamed the
    gunfire on the easy availability of guns.

    “It’s not based off anything related to Millennium Park,” Brown said,
    including the use of police resources there compared to other places in
    the center of the city.

    “This is a gun crime crisis in our city and our country,” Brown said.
    Because someone in the crowd who was involved in the argument had a
    weapon, gunfire erupted.

    “We are awash in guns,” Brown said.

    The person detained in Thursday’s shooting has not yet been identified as police are working with prosecutors to charge the possible shooter, Brown
    said. Police are “confident our officers captured the shooter and
    recovered the weapon used.”

    Items used to treat victims from Thursday night's shooting on the sidewalk
    near Chicago Avenue and State Street on May 20, 2022. (Jose M. Osorio /
    Chicago Tribune)

    Brown again also blamed the court system for gun offenders receiving lower bonds with putting more alleged criminals back onto the streets. Top
    judges and legal experts have questioned that correlation.

    The two fatalities in the shooting included Antonio Wade, 30, who died due
    to multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according
    to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Police had said he was shot
    in the chest and pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

    The second person who died was a 31-year-old man, who was shot in the back
    and pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital, police said.

    The most seriously wounded victim appeared to be a 19-year-old man shot in
    the chest who was listed in critical condition at Northwestern, police
    said.

    People watch officers and paramedics work the scene where two people were
    shot and killed near Chicago Avenue and State Street late Thursday.
    (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
    On the night of the shooting, a Red Line train traveling through the area
    was stopped between stations while authorities searched for a weapon on
    the subway’s rails, said Chief Juan Hernandez, a spokesperson with the
    Fire Department. He added that the department evacuated the CTA passengers
    at about 11:30 p.m.

    Shortly before then, responders were seen removing people — at least two
    who appeared to be badly injured — from an area between the McDonald’s and
    the subway entrance on the northeast corner of State and Chicago.

    Amid the chaos of the shooting’s aftermath, a woman yelled at an officer standing near the station entrance, “What hospital? My brother got shot!”

    Officers put up police tape at the scene where a number of people were
    shot, two fatally, near Chicago Avenue and State Street on Thursday.
    (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
    As paramedics and officers worked the scene a fight erupted between two
    people across the street. Shortly after 11:15 p.m. a group crossed a line
    of police tape and argued with officers before they were pushed back.

    Deonna Jackson, 18, had come downtown to hang out with her friends.

    “I was getting off the train and I spotted a group of teens fighting,”
    Jackson said. “The teens started rushing toward me and they’re all
    attacking one person — they were jumping someone.”

    “I’m kind of used to that happening right here, but I just don’t involve myself.” Jackson separated herself from the tussle and “made it to the
    corner.”

    That’s when a girl approached her, asked what was happening and asked
    Jackson for help, explaining that she was trying to find her friend who
    may have been involved in the fight.

    The scene where at least one person has been wounded by gunfire near the intersection of Chicago and State. pic.twitter.com/9Q99yoSaeo

    — armando l sanchez (@mandophotos) May 20, 2022
    Jackson began making her way to a 7-Eleven across the street, but things weren’t over.

    “All of a sudden shots went off,” Jackson said.

    Chicago Tribune’s Stephanie Casanova and Rosemary Sobol contributed.

    pfry@chicagotribune.com

    asanchez@chicagotribune.com

    sahmad@chicagotribune.com


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    BREAKING NEWS
    Downtown again rocked by violence; Mayor Lightfoot calls mass shooting on
    Near North Side a ‘horrible tragedy’
    By Paige Fry, Armando L. Sanchez and Shanzeh Ahmad
    Chicago Tribune

    May 20, 2022 at 5:41 pm




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    Paramedics transport a person who was wounded by gunfire at the scene of a
    mass shooting near Chicago Avenue and State Street on May 19, 2022, in
    Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)


    Violence again flared downtown late Thursday when nine people were shot,
    two fatally, near a fast-food restaurant and CTA station on the Near North Side, a shooting that came just days after the fatal shooting of a
    teenager near The Bean during a mass gathering of young people last
    weekend.

    The back-to-back high-profile shootings downtown drew further response
    Friday from the mayor and police leaders, who have struggled to contain
    the violence as summer looms. Both Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Superintendent David Brown immediately blamed Thursday’s shooting on parents not keeping
    track of their children and a flood of guns entering the city, many
    carried by young people who now use them in fights that in years past may
    not have been deadly.

    Lightfoot also again called for a visible police presence downtown,
    including fixed posts at the corner where the shooting Thursday took place
    at Chicago Avenue and State Street, and at the Chicago Avenue stop on the
    CTA Red Line. Brown said police had in fact instantly created a fixed post
    in the area and at the CTA station in question, in addition to roving
    units.

    Lightfoot said too many youths have said they need to carry guns to feel
    safe, and that needs to be addressed.

    “You have a ticking time bomb in your hand, in your pocket, in your
    purse,” she said.

    The latest shooting happened about 10:40 p.m. Thursday in the 800 block of North State Street outside the Chicago Avenue subway station and a
    McDonald’s. Police said one person started firing a gun into a crowd
    during a “personal conflict” outside the fast-food outlet, then the
    shooter and others fled into the Red Line station where one person was
    injured on the third rail of the subway tracks.

    One person, believed to be the shooter, was arrested and charges were
    pending, Brown said.

    The McDonald’s and nearby blocks have been a hot spot off and on over the
    past few years. Corporate offices for the fast-food giant declined to
    comment on the company’s commitment to the location, which was closed by
    the city Friday.

    The mayor resisted any call to bring out the National Guard to deal with violence, as the city saw during days of unrest two summers ago. The main
    issue is juveniles with guns, the mayor said again, not any issue that
    military strength could address.

    Around lunchtime Friday, State and Chicago was packed with people. Many of
    them walked up to the closed McDonald’s, which had police tape in front of
    one door and traffic cones blocking the drive-thru.

    One passerby said, “Oh, that was this McDonald’s?”

    “Crazy what’s happening in our country right now,” another said, as he
    changed course from McDonald’s to a Taco Bell next door.

    Jim Smaron, a retired accountant who has lived in the area since 2010,
    said when he first moved to the neighborhood, he considered it safe.

    “It seems like in the last three, four years, it’s gotten worse,” Smaron
    said. “It’s the first time I’ve heard of a fatal shooting in the area from
    what I can remember.”

    He said the area around the McDonald’s, especially with the Red Line right
    out front, has “always been a problem,” and with the new Whole Foods kitty-corner to the McDonald’s, more and more people will be drawn to the
    area.

    “It goes away a little bit when the police are patrolling, like they are
    now, but it doesn’t solve the problem,” he said. “Mayor Lightfoot talked
    about improving crime, and it doesn’t seem to be improved. Not only around
    here but in all of Chicago. I can’t quite understand what’s going on.”

    The 18th District, where the McDonald’s is located, has seen an increase
    from five to 15 shooting victims this year through May 18, according to official police data. That total is expected to jump after Thursday
    night’s shooting.


    A worker sweeps up broken glass from a door of a McDonald's restaurant in Chicago after a mass shooting Thursday night. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
    The city had been shocked earlier in the week by the fatal shooting of 16- year-old Seandell Holliday near The Bean in Millennium Park. It was
    unclear what role new rules that went into effect Thursday closing
    Millennium Park to unaccompanied minors might have played in moving groups
    of young people to other parts of downtown.

    Brown rejected the idea the Millennium Park limits on youths played into
    the shooting or the moving of the gathering place for younger people. He
    noted the corner has been a “long-standing” problem spot and blamed the
    gunfire on the easy availability of guns.

    “It’s not based off anything related to Millennium Park,” Brown said,
    including the use of police resources there compared to other places in
    the center of the city.

    “This is a gun crime crisis in our city and our country,” Brown said.
    Because someone in the crowd who was involved in the argument had a
    weapon, gunfire erupted.

    “We are awash in guns,” Brown said.

    The person detained in Thursday’s shooting has not yet been identified as police are working with prosecutors to charge the possible shooter, Brown
    said. Police are “confident our officers captured the shooter and
    recovered the weapon used.”


    Items used to treat victims from Thursday night's shooting on the sidewalk
    near Chicago Avenue and State Street on May 20, 2022. (Jose M. Osorio /
    Chicago Tribune)
    Brown again also blamed the court system for gun offenders receiving lower bonds with putting more alleged criminals back onto the streets. Top
    judges and legal experts have questioned that correlation.

    The two fatalities in the shooting included Antonio Wade, 30, who died due
    to multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according
    to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Police had said he was shot
    in the chest and pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

    The second person who died was a 31-year-old man, who was shot in the back
    and pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital, police said.

    The most seriously wounded victim appeared to be a 19-year-old man shot in
    the chest who was listed in critical condition at Northwestern, police
    said.


    People watch officers and paramedics work the scene where two people were
    shot and killed near Chicago Avenue and State Street late Thursday.
    (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
    On the night of the shooting, a Red Line train traveling through the area
    was stopped between stations while authorities searched for a weapon on
    the subway’s rails, said Chief Juan Hernandez, a spokesperson with the
    Fire Department. He added that the department evacuated the CTA passengers
    at about 11:30 p.m.

    Shortly before then, responders were seen removing people — at least two
    who appeared to be badly injured — from an area between the McDonald’s and
    the subway entrance on the northeast corner of State and Chicago.

    Amid the chaos of the shooting’s aftermath, a woman yelled at an officer standing near the station entrance, “What hospital? My brother got shot!”


    Officers put up police tape at the scene where a number of people were
    shot, two fatally, near Chicago Avenue and State Street on Thursday.
    (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
    As paramedics and officers worked the scene a fight erupted between two
    people across the street. Shortly after 11:15 p.m. a group crossed a line
    of police tape and argued with officers before they were pushed back.

    Deonna Jackson, 18, had come downtown to hang out with her friends.

    “I was getting off the train and I spotted a group of teens fighting,”
    Jackson said. “The teens started rushing toward me and they’re all
    attacking one person — they were jumping someone.”

    “I’m kind of used to that happening right here, but I just don’t involve myself.” Jackson separated herself from the tussle and “made it to the
    corner.”

    That’s when a girl approached her, asked what was happening and asked
    Jackson for help, explaining that she was trying to find her friend who
    may have been involved in the fight.

    The scene where at least one person has been wounded by gunfire near the intersection of Chicago and State. pic.twitter.com/9Q99yoSaeo

    — armando l sanchez (@mandophotos) May 20, 2022
    Jackson began making her way to a 7-Eleven across the street, but things weren’t over.

    “All of a sudden shots went off,” Jackson said.

    Chicago Tribune’s Stephanie Casanova and Rosemary Sobol contributed.

    pfry@chicagotribune.com

    asanchez@chicagotribune.com

    sahmad@chicagotribune.com

    https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-shooting-state- street-20220520-5wmewlvx2nfchgsnds2tgh2mju-story.html

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