4 Killed, 26 Wounded In Presidents Day Weekend Shootings
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Four people have been killed and at least 26 more wounded, including two 13-year-old boys, in Presidents Day weekend shootings across the city.
The latest killing happened Saturday afternoon in the West Side Austin neighborhood. Eddie Thomas, 33, was sitting in a vehicle at 3:33 p.m. in the 4900 block of West Van Buren when someone in a silver car pulled up and opened fire, police and the Cook County medical examiner's office said. Thomas suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died at 5:11 p.m. He lived nearby in the same neighborhood.
Earlier Saturday, a man was found shot to death in Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side. Officers responded about 4:30 a.m. to a call of a person shot in the 4500 block of South Wood and found John Gonzalez, 36, with a gunshot wound to his head being put into a vehicle by several friends, authorities said. He was transported to University of Illinois Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:43 a.m. He lived in the same neighborhood as the shooting.
Two men wounded in the same attack, ages 26 and 32, later showed up in good condition at Stroger Hospital, police said. The older man was shot in both legs and the younger man shot in one of his hands.
Just before 3 a.m. Saturday in the same neighborhood, officers responding to a call of shots fired in the 5000 block of South Ashland found 23-year-old Willie Cooks in a building with a gunshot wound to his back, authorities said. Cooks, of the Roseland neighborhood, was pronounced dead at the scene at 3 a.m. Officers also found a 28-year-old man nearby who had run away and was shot in the right leg. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
At 6:23 p.m. Friday, 31-year-old Travis Joseph was on a porch in the 1400 block of West 71st Street in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, when anther male walked up, pulled out a weapon and opened fire, authorities said. Joseph was shot in the chest and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 4:11 a.m. Saturday. He lived in the same neighborhood as the shooting.
An off-duty Cook County sheriff's correctional officer was wounded shortly after 8:30 p.m. Saturday in an Englewood neighborhood shooting on the South Side, according to police and the sheriff's office. The 36-year-old was standing in front of a home in the 7300 block of South Aberdeen when two males emerged from a vacant lot nearby and fired shots in his direction. The shooters then ran away. He was shot in the right leg and taken in good condition to Christ Medical Center.
One 13-year-old boy was wounded in in a shooting about 8:15 p.m. Sunday in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side. He was standing outside in the 7600 block of South Peoria when a dark-colored SUV pulled up to the boy and someone inside fired shots, police said. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left arm and was taken in good condition to Comer Children's Hospital.
Another 13-year-old boy was walking with a 16-year-old boy about 11:30 p.m. Friday in the 5100 block of West Concord in Austin when the pair heard gunfire and realized they'd both been shot, police said. They were taken to Stroger Hospital, where the younger boy was in critical condition with a chest wound and the older boy's condition was stabilized with a leg wound.
At least 19 other people were wounded in shootings across Chicago between 6 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Last year, six people were killed and 19 more wounded in shootings over the same holiday weekend.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2017. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
