The carloads of relatives began arriving about two hours after the double homicide on Mother’s Day. One woman sprinted toward an officer at the edge of the crime scene at West Madison Street and North Cicero Avenue in South Austin about 4:40 a.m. Inside the yellow tape, a black sedan protruded from the wall of a building it crashed into and shell casings littered the street.
“How are we supposed to know if that’s our family?” asked the woman. “He’s not picking up his phone.”
By the time the sun was rising, more people pulled up to the intersection frantically looking for detectives. They cried and hugged, trying to soothe one another with gentle back rubs.
A woman who identified herself as the aunt of one of the victims said the two men fatally shot in the car were best friends, but she did not specify which man was her relative.
“He had a 9-to-5 (job). He had never been in the streets,” she said through sobs. “He was our life. They was wrong. They don’t have to do that to him.”
The two men, ages 24 and 25, were fatally shot after a Chevrolet pulled up alongside them at a stoplight and someone inside opened fire. The victims continued driving and turned west on Madison as their car jumped the curb, crashed into a building next to a Mobil gas station and struck a man in a wheelchair, who was taken to Stroger Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
The 24-year-old was shot in the back and right arm. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The 25-year-old man was shot and taken to Loyola University Medical Center in critical condition. He was later pronounced dead.
Bruce Hall, 53, watched the aftermath of the fatal South Austin shooting unfold from the second-story balcony of his brick apartment building. He said he heard about eight gunshots and saw more than a dozen young people hanging out at the gas station when the shooting happened.
As Hall filmed the incident on his cellphone, he couldn’t help but think about the last time he took video of a shooting from his balcony. On March 30, an 18-year-old shot in a drive-by was left in critical condition.
“There’s no peace on this corner for long,” he said. “And on this of all days — Mother's Day. That’s two mothers who are going to be grieving.”
In addition to the double homicide on the West Side, a 17-year-old boy was killed and eight others were wounded in shootings across the city, including a shooting in the outbound lanes of the Kennedy Expressway.
The 17-year-old boy was shot about 8:35 p.m. in the 10500 block of South Lafayette Avenue in the Fernwood neighborhood, police said. He suffered gunshot wounds to the back and chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A man or boy went up to the boy and shot him, then fled on foot, police said.
In nonfatal shootings
• A 45-year-old man was shot in the right side after arguing with someone about 3:10 a.m. Sunday in the Princeton Park neighborhood. During the argument in the 100 block of West 95th Street, a gunman emerged from a vehicle and fired shots. The victim was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
• A woman was shot while in a car traveling in the outbound lanes on the Kennedy Expressway near Fullerton Avenue about 3:50 a.m. The woman, whose age was not available, was shot in the leg.
• A 17-year-old boy was shot in the right leg in the Lawndale neighborhood about 1:10 a.m. He was standing in the 1200 block of South Lawndale Avenue when a white SUV pulled up and someone inside opened fire. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
• A 20-year-old man was shot in the right leg while driving away from an argument in the Brainerd neighborhood about 1:21 a.m. The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in fair condition.
• A 35-year-old man was shot in the right arm in the Gresham neighborhood about 11:12 p.m. Saturday. A man approached him in an alley in the 8100 block of South Paulina Street and fired shots. The victim was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in good condition.
• A 28-year-old man was shot multiple times in the 5500 block of South Throop Street in the Englewood neighborhood about 10:45 p.m. The victim got himself to University of Chicago Medical Center and was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. Police said the victim is a documented gang member.
• A 26-year-old man was shot in the buttocks in the 12000 block of South Lafayette in the West Pullman neighborhood, police said. His condition was stabilized at Advocate Christ Medical Center. The man was outside when a blue Chevrolet Traverse pulled up in front of him and at least one person inside shot him just after 8:05 p.m., then fled the scene.
• A 24-year-old man was shot late Saturday afternoon while he was crossing the street in the Woodlawn neighborhood. About 4:40 p.m., the victim was crossing the street at 63rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue when he heard shots. The victim ran north to an alley, where he realized he was shot, police said. The man suffered a wound to the upper right leg and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition.
Poster Comment:
Obama brought in a lot of illegal aliens so the number of gang members rose from 100,000 to 150,000 in Cook county. He also let the Sinaloa cartel flies drugs into the city by the planeload.