Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
CHICAGO, IL – As this Memorial Day weekend comes to a close, we at Law Enforcement Today are reflecting not only on the men and women who lost their lives in service to our country, but also on the insane amount of violence that has taken place in a city with some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation.
By Monday morning in the Windy City, nine people had already been killed by gunfire. Additionally, from Friday afternoon to Monday evening, at least 39 people were reported to be shot.
Reports say that this was the deadliest weekend in Chicago since 2015. This is particularly disturbing because of the lockdown orders in place in addition to the major storm warning over the weekend.
Memorial Day weekend already deadliest in years with 36 shot, 9 killed in Chicago https://t.co/nPWVuWUlqY
— Chicago Breaking News (@ChicagoBreaking) May 25, 2020
Among those shot were three teenagers.
Darnell Fisher, 16 years old, was shot dead while walking in the Washington Park neighborhood around 10 p.m. Saturday.
A person is in custody after 16-year-old boy was fatally shot Saturday in Washington Park, according to police.​ https://t.co/VkaxzeB9Ou
— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) May 24, 2020
A 15-year-old girl was also shot, this time in the leg while she was standing on a front porch around 5 a.m. Monday in the West Pullman neighborhood. Her injuries were non-life threatening.
A 15-year-old boy was shot in the face, chest and abdomen in the South Shore neighborhood before 1 a.m. Saturday. He allegedly got in a verbal altercation with an unknown driver who pulled a gun on him. The teen was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital and was last listed in critical condition.
An interesting note, the new superintendent of police, David Brown, said that in addition to the expected spike in violence in the city, he also told police to “be on the lookout for large gatherings” that aren’t allowed because of the lockdown orders.
This past Memorial Day weekend, 36 people were shot and 9 were killed in the city of Chicago.
The deadliest in years.
Instead of locking up people for not wearing face masks, maybe the Mayor of Chicago should lock-up the thugs who mow down her people and terrorize her city?
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) May 25, 2020
Around 10pm Sunday, police responded to 7000 block of South Lowe Avenue on reports of a large crowd.
Officers engaged in a foot pursuit with a man with a gun from that incident, and another man shot nearby, but it was determined he was not shooting at police.
Two officers suffered minor injuries during that incident and one person (reportedly the man who shot the gun) was taken into custody.
Other shooting deaths included a 45-year-old man who was apparently just standing on the street around 4am when a black SUV drove by and started shooting at him.
Multiple other people were found shot to death at different times throughout the city, some on the street and some inside of homes.
Fox 32 reported:
“The most recent fatal shooting was Sunday afternoon in Rosemoor on the South Side. About 3:05 p.m., a male was in a vehicle in an alley in the 400 block of East 103rd Street when someone walked up and fired shots, Chicago police said. He was shot in the face and chest and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead.
“About 7:45 a.m., a ShotSpotter notification alerted police of the shooting in the 1000 block of North Drake Avenue, police said. Officers found the man, 21, with a gunshot wound to his head and notified Chicago firefighters. Dariontae Adams was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
“A 45-year-old man was killed several hours before that in Grand Crossing on the South Side. He was standing on the sidewalk at 3:52 a.m. in the 7800 block of South Ingleside Avenue when someone fired shots from a black SUV, according to police. He was hit in the left side and later died at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
“Another man was killed late Saturday night in Humboldt Park on the Northwest Side. The 28-year-old man was found on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the head at 11:08 p.m. in the 3400 block of West North Avenue, police said. Two males were seen running from the scene. The man who was shot, identified as Alejandro Castro of Humboldt Park, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital, authorities said.
“Keith Moore, 32, was discovered in a home about 7:46 p.m. in the 1300 block of West 97th Place with a gunshot wound to the armpit, authorities said. Moore, who lived in Bronzeville, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“About 6:25 p.m., a group of people was outside a home in the 3900 block of West Grenshaw Street when someone in a vehicle pulled up and opened fire, authorities said. Antonio Gasaway, 35, was struck in the chest and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“Saturday morning, a 27-year-old man was shot to death in Englewood on the South Side. He was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his abdomen at 6:05 a.m. at a home in the 5900 block of South Justine Street, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner’s office identified him as Jamal Daveny of Bronzeville.
“Tobias McNeal, 41, was discovered lying on the sidewalk about 11:26 p.m. in the 5600 block of South Paulina Street with gunshot wounds throughout his body, authorities said. McNeal, who lived in the same neighborhood, was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.”
In addition to the shooting violence, there was also an incident that left four people stabbed in the backyard of the Gresham apartment building. A 46-year-old woman pulled out a knife and stabbed three people. While she was doing that, someone else stabbed her. All persons injured were taken to a hospital and suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Law Enforcement Today recently reported on “Operation Rebuild” in Chicago, which saw many arrests and gun seizures during the week long operation.
The Chicago Police Department held a week-long operation on the city’s west side that resulted in many arrests and drug seizures.
The operation, “Operation Rebuild,” included the participation of over 100 officers. Ten hot spots were targeted and that’s where the efforts were focused on.
During a virtual press conference, Deputy Chief of Patrol Ernest Cato announced that officers arrested 55 suspects for charges including unlawful use of a weapon, robbery, narcotics and illegal guns.
He also announced the seizure of illegal narcotics and firearms.
Cato said:
“We want our residents throughout the West Side to see our presence as a small token of relief from the public health pandemic our city is currently facing. We also want those who choose to engage in violent crimes and illegal narcotics to truly see and feel our presence as well.”
CPD's 'Operation Rebuild' to combat West Side violence amid COVID-19 pandemic leads to 55 arrests https://t.co/7d9pUbOWko pic.twitter.com/HMdp1CYemF
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) May 24, 2020
Alderman Walter Burnett spoke at the press conference as well and said it’s much easier to spot the drug dealers with so many less people on the streets during the lockdown.
Burnett said:
“There are less people to camouflage you and you can get caught. We’re trying to rebuild our city as we get past this pandemic, help us rebuild the city and try doing it without doing crime.
We want to let the guys out there doing wrong that it may look like it’s a vacation for everyone but it’s not a vacation for the Chicago police. This gives them a better opportunity to put eyes on you. You are being targeted because you can be seen.”
Deputy Chief Cato said that 41 of those arrested have already seen a judge.
The last semi-holiday weekend, Mother’s Day, didn’t go over too well for Chicago either. Law Enforcement Today told you about that too.
The city of Chicago experienced quite a bit of gun violence over the weekend from May 8th through the 10th, despite being a city inundated with gun control measures.
When it was all said an done, there were a total of four gun deaths and 19 others injured by gunshot wounds.
Four dead and at least 19 others wounded in Chicago Mother's Day weekend shootings https://t.co/2pQMl7m6KU #crime #chicago #illinoislockdown #twill #illinois
— Marathon Pundit (@Marathonpundit) May 11, 2020
The first of the fatalities transpired on May 8th at approximately 10:43 p.m., when Chicago police responded to the 600 block of North Spaulding and discovered a 21-year-old male unresponsive.
He was later pronounced dead at the scene, having suffered a gun shot wound to his neck.
The following day on May 9th, another man was killed and the passenger of his vehicle was injured.
Authorities say the two victims were headed east on 121st Street at approximately 2:55 p.m. when a light-colored vehicle pulled up next to their car.
Gun-Controlled Chicago: 4 Dead, 19 Wounded in Weekend Shootings https://t.co/xC54YAitA5 via @BreitbartNews
If the virus don't get you?
— jim Deeth (@deeth_jim) May 11, 2020
Occupants inside the light-colored vehicle began shooting at the two victims inside the car, leading the victims to crash into a home located on 12100 block of South State Street.
One victim, a 26-year-old male, was shot in the foot and was transported to Roseland Community Hospital and is expected to survive. However, 25-year-old Bobby Berry, who was shot in the thigh and abdomen, was pronounced dead after arriving at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
On May 10th, there were two more fatal shootings that capped off the violent weekend.
The first of the day’s killings happened in the early morning hours that Sunday, at approximately 4:27 a.m. within the 3400 block of West Adams Street. Police say that the male victim was on foot when he was gunned down.
The victim was pronounced dead upon arriving at Mount Sinai Hospital.
4 dead, 19 hurt in Chicago weekend shootings🥱https://t.co/EMITRjGoHi
— Patricia Dickson (@Patrici15767099) May 11, 2020
Roughly 12 hours after that shooting, at 4:30 p.m., a male victim was walking down the alley in the 5500 block of West Cortland Street.
Authorities say that a vehicle pulled up next to the victim and began unloading gunfire. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, having suffered gunshots to the mouth and chest.
It’s been one bad weekend after another within Chicago. While the weekend ending on the 10th of May saw 19 wounded in concurrence with the four fatalities, the weekend prior to it saw four fatal shootings and an additional 46 people wounded by gunfire.
But the beaches are safe: 4 shot and at least 46 wounded in Chicago over weekend https://t.co/NJcMsHKAEK #chicago #twill #illinoislockdown #crime #LoriLightfoot
— Marathon Pundit (@Marathonpundit) May 4, 2020
Just last month in April, Chicago’s mayor pleaded with her city to cease all the violence.
Despite an ongoing pandemic and a stay-at-home order, Chicago is still seeing surges in gun violence in the city. From the way Interim Police Superintendent Charlie Beck describes things, there are “two pandemics that face Chicago — and only one of them is virus-induced.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Supt. Beck addressed the press on April 8th to decry the violence erupting while the city is trying to get a handle on the COVID-19 situation.
The Illinois stay-at-home order, mandating that residents shelter in place amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, has virtually shut down the city of Chicago, but according to the city's police department, gun violence is still on the rise. https://t.co/uuKc69mtlU
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 12, 2020
The concern, aside from the violence itself, is that ICU’s will continue to get inundated with victims of gun violence and leave no room for needed bed space during the pandemic.
To demonstrate the gravity of Chicago’s gun violence “pandemic,” as Supt. Beck described it, in a 24-hour period that started on April 6th, seven people were killed by gunfire and another 21 were wounded. Among the causalities was a 5-year-old girl.
At least 21 people were shot in Chicago on Tuesday alone. Six people died, including a 15-year-old boy.
“Unfortunately, the epidemic of gun violence continues to plague us every day, every hour of the day,” said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. https://t.co/X3L40nFHtt
— Moms Demand Action (@MomsDemand) April 9, 2020
Rodney Phillips, who works as a violence prevention outreach worker in Chicago, recently spoke with TIME magazine about how bad things are in Chicago:
“It’s like a double whammy. We are catching it double. We have the virus and the violence to worry about.”
Mayor Lightfoot noted that the violence sweeping through the city is “never acceptable”:
“Never, ever. … Shooting into crowds without any regard for the consequences is the most heinous form of cowardice.”
Heartbreaking levels of gun violence in Chicago last week. My prayers are with the victims & their families. https://t.co/ePYayNqH0h
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) April 13, 2020
The mayor went into the harsh reality that if people continue to shoot each other, more innocent victims will be impacted due to the effect the violence will have on hospital resources:
“Every day we are measuring our precious health care resources. The number of beds we have in hospitals, ICU capacity. To be blunt, if our ICUs are filled with gunshot victims, our ability to respond to this … crisis will necessarily be compromised.”
As a result of the rising homicides in the city, the CPD have been directed to “spare no expense or resource to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
The culture against “snitching” that has permeated today’s world, whether motivated by fears of repercussion or a sense of pride for not ratting people out, is one that the Mayor wants to cease:
“We cannot allow this to happen. People know who the shooters are. You know who you are. These cowards cannot be given any shelter.”
'There are two pandemics': Chicago's gun violence persists amid lockdown https://t.co/3kURXOHlmy
— Tanya Zakrison (@tzakrison) April 12, 2020
Supt. Beck explained that in these times, hospital resources are precious, pleading with the unknown perpetrators to put an end to the violence:
“Every one of those ER beds taken up by a gunshot victim could be somebody’s grandmother, somebody with pre-existing conditions, somebody that is in danger of losing their life because of the pandemic.”
It’s a sad state of affairs when officials have been reduced to groveling to the criminal element to stop committing violent crime. This proves that even a stay-at-home order is immaterial to someone intent on committing crime.
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Leah Anaya is a medically retired police officer. She served for three years at the Oakland Police Department, and just under five at the Vancouver Police Department in Washington State. Before that, she was an intelligence analyst in the US Army. She is now a stay at home mom living with her husband, who is still serving as a police officer, and their three children. She also grew up as the daughter of a police officer in California. Leah is now a staff writer at Law Enforcement Today and is a peer support advocate for The Wounded Blue as well as Serve and Protect. You can find her on social media @leahmsanaya or at www.leahanaya.com.