At Least 9 Shot Or Attacked In Chicago Since Wednesday Afternoon
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The warmer weather has been a great relief to winter-weary Chicagoans, but it has also carried the byproduct of increased violence on the city's streets.
Between 4 p.m. Wednesday and 1 a.m. Thursday, at least eight people were shot all around the city, and a ninth was beaten so severely that police initially thought he had been shot.
The first shooting happened at 4:23 p.m. Wednesday in the Washington Park neighborhood.
A 38-year-old man was on the 5100 block of South Calumet Avenue when two males standing across the street pulled a handgun and fired several times, according to a police News Affairs release.
The victim was shot in the left side and was taken in stable condition to Stroger Hospital of Cook County. No one was in custody in the shooting as of Thursday morning.
At 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, a man was shot in the arm in the West Englewood neighborhood.
The 35-year-old man was standing in the 7000 block of South Wolcott Avenue when he heard one gunshot, felt pain in his right arm and realized he had been shot, according to a release from police News Affairs.
The victim was shot in the right arm and was taken in stable condition to Holy Cross Hospital. No one was in custody as of Thursday morning.
The next reported shooting happened across town in the Rogers Park neighborhood. A man in his 20s was shot in the abdomen at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday in the 1400 block of West Estes Avenue, according to police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala, citing preliminary information.
He was taken in an unidentified condition to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.
A second victim, who is believed to be involved in the shooting, transported himself to St. Francis. The Chicago Tribune reported he was also shot.
Circumstances surrounding the shooting were not immediately available, and no one was in custody Thursday morning.
In a fourth incident, a man was shot three times in the South Side's Hamilton Park neighborhood.
About 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, the man was shot twice in the leg and once in the abdomen in the 6900 block of South Yale Avenue, according to Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford.
He was "alert and talking" and taken in stable condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Langford said. No one is was in custody Wednesday morning.
Afterward, Chicago Police began pursuing a vehicle involved in the shooting on the Bishop Ford Expressway, police News Affairs Officer Ronald Gaines said. The chase ended with three suspects in custody in Dolton.
In the next incident, a man was shot and wounded in the leg in the Morgan Park neighborhood.
The incident occurred around 10:51 p.m. Wednesday on the 900 block of West 116th Street, police News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines said.
The male victim, of an unknown age, was transported in stable condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Gaines said. No suspects were in custody as of early Thursday morning.
A short time later, two men were shot and wounded in the West Side's South Austin neighborhood.
The shooting happened about 11 p.m. in the 300 block of North Pine Avenue, police said.
A 24-year-old man was shot in the leg, and a 26-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the head, police said. Both are listed in good condition at Stroger Hospital of Cook County. No one was in custody as of Thursday morning.
Finally, a man was found covered in blood in the Southwest Side's Chicago Lawn neighborhood.
The man was found about 12:30 a.m. following the attack in the 2700 block of 64th Street, Gaines said.
Witnesses told police they saw three suspects running from the attack and that one suspect was holding a baseball bat as he fled, police said. Further description of the suspects was not yet available early Thursday.
The victim, an adult man possibly in his 20s, suffered blunt trauma wounds to the head from the attack but did not appear to be shot, police later said.
He was listed in critical condition at an area hospital early Thursday, Gaines said. No one is in custody as of the 9 a.m. hour Thursday.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
