2 Mass Shootings Reported At The Same Time In Chicago Hours After President Biden Announces Plan To Address City's Violence
CHICAGO (CBS)-- In the hours since President Biden announced his five-point plan to address crime, Chicago had two late night mass shootings a the same time.
Four people were shot in Austin neighborhood on Hubbard Street at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
At the same time, four people with a motorcycle club with shot in Englewood in the 7000 block of South Vincennes Avenue. Police said shots were fired from a vehicle.
A 52-year-old man was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.
Three other victims, ranging in age from 44 to 65, are in fair condition.
No one is in custody from either case.
With five dead and nearly 50 wounded just last weekend in Chicago, it's statistics like those that have President Joe Biden unveiling a five-point plan to address what he calls an uptick in violent crime since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in major American cities.
The plan would crack down on gun sellers who violate federal laws with a new zero-tolerance policy, which would mean stiffer penalties for retailers.
City of Chicago filed a civil lawsuit against Westforth Sports in Gary, Indiana. in April– claiming it sold hundreds of guns that wind up in Chicago in the hands of drug traffickers and convicted felons. The lawsuit cites audit reports from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives that show repeat violations and warnings – and even two recommendations that Westforth's license to sell guns be revoked. The suit is seeking a court order requiring the company to stop practices that lead to illegal guns on the streets.
It also pointed out that between 2014 and this year, more than 40 criminal prosecutions for illegal gun purchases in the Northern District of Indiana involved firearms sold by Westforth.
At the time, Mayor Lightfoot said the data and analysis that the city has discovered and conducted with federal partners show Westforth is "selling thousands of crime guns, every year."
"And the time for us to stop to ask them to do better, and make sure that they're not selling the straw purchasers, do what they're required to do as a federally licensed gun dealer is over," she said. "We tried that, it hasn't worked."
President Biden also is calling for more funding for gang and community violence intervention groups -- work that is done by organizations Like BUILD Chicago, headquartered on the city's West Side.