Data show CPD took about half an hour to arrive after woman was surrounded by motorcycles, fired at

Police response time questioned after woman was fired at in Sandburg Village

CHICAGO (CBS) -- We first brought you this story last Wednesday - a woman trying to drive home was surrounded by a group of people on motorcycles and ATVs on the Near North Side.

Then, shots were fired at the woman's vehicle as she drove away.

Witnesses questioned how long it took police to arrive at the scene, so we looked into it.

As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reported Friday, Chicago Police told us the day we first reported on this story that it took officers six minutes to arrive at the scene. But we put in a Freedom of Information Act request, and the data in the documents we obtained tell us a different story.

On Monday, Oct. 24, at 10:11 p.m., a dark green and white Mini Cooper was surrounded by at least 15 people on ATVs and motorcycles at the corner of Clark Street and Burton Place in the middle of the Sandburg Village high-rise condo development, within the Old Town neighborhood.

A friend told us off camera that the woman in the Mini Cooper was just trying to get around the group to drive home.

When she turned to back up, she hit one of the motorcycles that was parked at the intersection. It fell to the ground.

At that point, one of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it at the woman's windshield. Seconds later, at least four gunshots were fired. 

The woman's car was hit three times. Fortunately, she wasn't injured and was able to drive away.

The person who gave Le Mignot the video of the incident asked to remain anonymous. They say it took about 26 minutes for police to arrive at the scene.

The person said they started shooting the video around 10:11 p.m., and police arrived at about 10:37 p.m.

Last Wednesday, when the original story aired, Chicago police told us in this email: "The call of shots fired in the 1400 block of North Sandburg Terrace was dispatched at 10:13 p.m. and officers were on the scene of the shots fired call by 10:19 p.m."

But our analysis of the CPD's own data tells a different story.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, data show officers were dispatched to the scene at 10:13 p.m. Six minutes later, at 10:19 p.m., for some reason, the same officers were cleared from going to the call.

The same officers were later called again and asked to go to the scene. Thirty seconds later, they confirmed they were enroute, arriving about 32 minutes after the initial call.

"Why the police didn't come immediately!" a woman who witnessed the incident said.

The woman was heading outside to walk her dog when the shooting happened. She agreed to speak with us if we didn't use her name.

She also told us it took more than 20 minutes for police to arrive.

"They were shooting at that woman, and that woman was so scared probably," the witness said. "I can't even imagine. She's probably scarred for her life!"

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) confirms there was a backlog of calls in the Near North (18th) Police District that Monday night, and the district was understaffed.

"When you call 911, there may very well not be a police officer available to come immediately for that call for assistance," Hopkins said. "That's s a real problem that we're facing citywide - it's not just in the 18th District."

When asking Chicago Police why it took 32 minutes for officers to respond to the scene, Le Mignot was told they have no additional information regarding this matter.

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