At Least 10 Dead, Dozens Wounded In Weekend Violence
UPDATED 03/19/12 1:06 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Activist priest the Rev. Michael Pfleger is calling for action from everyone in Chicago to stem the violence on city streets, after a weekend in which 10 people were killed and some 40 others were wounded.
"My God!" Pfleger said. "We should be outraged!"
As WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, Pfleger says no matter where you live – be it in the city or suburbs – you need to get involved. He says violence, even if not present, now, could soon be knocking at your back door.
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"All we're seeing is shaking of heads and teddy bears and balloons becoming the landmarks of our neighborhoods. That's not normal," Pfleger said. "We've got to understand gunshots and sirens and helicopters is not normal. We are living in a third-world mentality right now."
Pfleger wants to know why politicians – Democratic and Republican – are silent on the issue.
The majority of shootings in the city between Friday evening and early Monday morning happened on the city's South Side, but areas from West Rogers Park to Humboldt Park also saw gun violence. The youngest victim was a 6-year-old girl, who was likely the innocent victim of gang violence in the Little Village neighborhood.
Neighbors said Aliyah Shell was playing on the porch of her house in the 3100 block of South Springfield Avenue around 3:40 p.m. Saturday, while her parents sat nearby on the front steps. A small gray pickup truck stopped in the street, and someone inside got out and fired four shots – two of them hitting the little girl.
Aliyah was struck twice and initially was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. She was pronounced dead at 5:24 p.m., the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said.
Detectives recovered a gun and were questioning two teenage boys who have been charged in the shooting. The suspects are Juan Barraza, 18, and a 16-year-old boy who was already wanted on a previous arrest warrant.
Police say both teens are affiliated with the Latin Kings street gang.
Besides the death of the 6-year-old girl, this weekend's fatal shootings include:
• Joel Sanroman, 42, who was shot in the head early Saturday as he drove in the 3100 block of West 53rd Street in the Gage Park neighborhood.
• Adrian Cruz, 24, who was shot multiple times around 7 p.m. Saturday while standing in the 5900 block of South Fairfield Avenue in Chicago Lawn.
• Vincent Fitts, 22, who was found shot in the head at 7:50 p.m. Saturday near 79th and Cottage Grove Avenue.
• Jeremy Anthony, 24, who police believe drove himself to University of Chicago Medicine after being shot in the back while sitting in his car in the 6300 block of South Ellis Avenue in the Woodlawn neighborhood.
• Bert Lindsey, 36, who was killed early Sunday from shots fired from a passing vehicle into a backyard party in the 7500 block of South Wolcott Avenue in Auburn-Gresham. He suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was pronounced dead at at Advocate Christ Medical Center.
• Equilla Coleman, 24, and two others who were found shot early Sunday in the 1400 block of West 53rd Street after police nearby heard gunfire and found them with gunshot wounds.
• Anthony Scott, 19, who died Sunday -- two days after he was shot in the 6300 block of North Oakley Avenue by in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, when a man who called him over to his vehicle.
• George Marrero, 27, who was killed at 10:50 p.m. Sunday during a gang-related drive-by shooting in the 1300 block of North Harding Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Police were questioning two people early Monday, but no charges had been filed.
• An unidentified 34-year-old man was shot multiple times in the chest at an unspecified location about 1:35 a.m. Monday. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he later died.
Among non-fatal shootings, police Monday morning were talking with two persons of interest after a mother and her baby were shot in broad daylight in the East Chatham neighborhood. The shooting took place at 3:22 p.m. near 79th Street and South Maryland Avenue, police said.
The child was taken to University of Chicago Comer's Children's Hospital, and the mother was taken to University of Chicago Medicine, said Fire Media Affairs spokesman Will Knight. Police said both were in good condition.
Other non-fatal struck areas of the city from Jefferson Park to West Pullman. Most recently, a man was shot in both legs about 1:45 a.m. while sitting in Ogden Park in the South Side Englewood neighborhood, police said. He was taken in serious condition Stroger Hospital of Cook County.
Also early Monday, two men were shot during an argument in the 7900 block of South Shore Drive. One man, 30, was shot in the ankle while another man was expected to be transferred to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for a gunshot wound to either his neck or chest.
At least 34 others were wounded in shootings since Friday evening.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
