2 Wounded In Latest Uptown Shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two men are wounded after being shot in broad daylight in the Uptown neighborhood, in the third such incident since Sunday in the space of a couple of blocks.
Around 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, the men, ages 20 and 21, were standing on the sidewalk in the 4400 block of North Sheridan Road – just off Sunnyside Avenue – with a group of others. Someone walked up and fired multiple shots at the group, police said.
The 20-year-old was struck in the knee and the 21-year-old was struck in the lower left leg, police said.
The Uptown Update blog said crime scene tape was set up after the shooting in the parking lot of a strip mall anchored by the Makola Supermarket, Royal Laundry, and a pawn shop.
Witnesses reported seeing police officers with guns drawn running south on Sheridan Road and then east on Agatite Avenue in pursuit of a suspect, the blog said.
No one was in custody as of Wednesday according to police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli, who said the victims have been uncooperative with police.
Quoted by Uptown Update, the office of Ald. James Cappleman (46th) said before the shooting, police had had contact with both men who were later shot, asking them to leave the area, but that there was no probable cause to arrest the soon-to-be victims.
The shooting comes just a few days after two other shootings -- one fatal -- a short distance away.
The first reported shooting happened around 4:25 p.m. Sunday. A man was walking out of a store on the 4500 block of North Sheridan and saw a group of people hanging out on the street, police said. He then heard gunshots and felt pain in his lower leg.
He was taken to Weiss Hospital in good condition.
A few hours later and a couple blocks away, two men in their 20s were wounded -- one fatally -- in a drive-by shooting, near Truman College, the CTA Red Line, and the busy Target store on Broadway.
The victims, ages 21 and 23, were walking on the sidewalk when a vehicle drove by and a male passenger opened fired, according to a report from police.
The shooting occurred at 8:37 p.m. on the 1100 block of West Sunnyside Avenue, according to police. The older of the men– Brian Gill of the 4400 block of North Racine Avenue – was pronounced dead on the scene after being shot in the head, police said.
Uptown Update reported that readers saw Gill's body covered with a blanket in the street.
The other man suffered gunshots to his arm and side, News Affairs Officer Ronald Gaines said. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition.
Cappleman says the Town Hall police district where the shooting happened has been allocated more officers in response to the recent gang-related shootings in the area, Uptown Update reported.
The alderman plans to discuss crime and safety issues in the neighborhood at the Beat 2311 Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy meeting at Truman College, 1145 W. Wilson Ave., from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6.
He also advises neighbors to download a window flyer for the Safe Passage Neighborhood Watch program, and when they are home, volunteer to monitor children walking to and from school in the morning and afternoon. This is especially important given that the new school year is set to begin, and gang recruitment will pick up, Cappleman said on Uptown Update.
