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13 shot inside memorial party in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood: ‘When is it going to stop?’
Alice Yin
Chicago Tribune
Dec 22, 2019 | 7:06 AM
Chicago police guard a crime scene in the 5700 block of S. May Street in Chicago after several people were shot there on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Thirteen people were wounded when a shooter opened fire inside a large memorial gathering early Sunday in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.
About 12:40 a.m., a house party was going on in the 5700 block of South May Street. Someone inside started shooting and struck 13 people, according to Chicago police.
The victims ranged in age from 16 to 48, and four of them were in critical condition following the shooting that was an “isolated” incident, Chicago police chief of patrol Fred Waller briefed reporters later that morning. The 16-year-old boy shot was one of the victims in critical condition, Waller said.
Two people of interest are in questioning, one of whom a revolver was recovered from, while the other one was still hospitalized with a gunshot wound. The dispute is not believed to be gang-related, Waller said.
The party was in honor of the birthday of Lonell Irvin, the 22-year-old man fatally shot during an attempted carjacking April in the Loop, according to multiple people at the scene.
Waller said during the party, a “dispute” occurred, leading to shots being fired inside the residence. Once people began to flee outside, a person was captured on a Chicago police pod camera firing more shots. Then a different shooter was seen shooting at a vehicle, Waller said.
“From outside, definitely there was two different shooters,” Waller said. “It looked like they were just shooting randomly at people as they exited the party.”
Outside the scene Sunday morning, some women huddled north of the red crime scene tape still had on their colorful shirts with Irvin’s face printed on top of his birth and death date. They expressed anger at how the party, which one woman said she spent hundreds of dollars on, was violently crashed by gunmen who were not invited.
“It was his birthday and they were just celebrating a memorial for somebody that passed away, and this is what they do,” said a 29-year-old woman who declined to give her name, citing safety concerns. “It’s real f---ing sad. Your kids can’t grow up, you can’t do nothing. This is what our life is going to be about.”
In Chicago, people grieving homicide victims have faced the added danger of perpetrators lurking nearby, ready to target a gathering of the deceased’s love ones. At a vigil in Chatham in January 2017, seven people, including a 12-year-old boy, were shot while paying respects to a woman slain in a shooting that same week.
Citywide, shootings and homicides are projected to drop by double-digit numbers for the third consecutive year, according to Chicago police data.
The 29-year-old woman stood for over an hour next to where she found one of her friends clutching her chest on the northwest corner of West 57th Street and May. She had been shot but, to the 29-year-old’s relief, was able to talk, requesting that someone call her daughter before being loaded into an ambulance.
It became difficult for residents on the block to keep track of all the gunshot victims. As the 29-year-old relayed that her friend was hospitalized, another woman, who just finished recounting watching her male friend bleed from a gunshot wound on the stairs, let out a deep sigh. “You f---ing lying,” she said in disbelief. “Where was she at?”
“She was lying right here,” the 29-year-old said, gesturing to the patch of grass in front of her. The other woman immediately got on the phone and paced down the block.
The 16th Ward alderman Stephanie Coleman said she was alerted to the shooting by about eight phone calls from residents on the block. She arrived to the scene to find chaos, but also helpers.
“I saw disappointment,” Coleman told reporters Sunday morning. “I saw frustration. I saw fear. I saw lots of concerned neighbors getting to the bottom of it.”
Terence Daniely, a 57-year-old who lives a few houses north of the shooting, said he was woken up by at least five gunshots. When he looked outside, it was as if the entire police district had swarmed the block, he said. With squad cars and ambulances clogging the street, some officers parked further away and were sprinting southbound toward the house of the memorial.
Daniely, who’s lived on the block for about four years, said he hopes for stiffer penalties for gun offenders and more support for youth at risk of turning to gang life.
“It’s so real, that lack of caring for life,” Daniely said. “It’s reckless, just reckless. How does it continually happen? When is it going to stop?”
The 29-year-old woman was less optimistic that there was a solution to all the violence. She understood why her neighborhood was frustrated and felt police weren’t helping, but in the end, she said she’s begun to believe there was nothing they could do either.
Latest Breaking News
“Y’all can try your best to stay out here and watch these streets all night, but no matter how they do it, it’s going to be multiple deaths, multiple shootings, innocent people getting shot,” the 29-year-old said. “I cannot wait to leave Chicago.”
Coleman said despite the gun violence Sunday, the 5700 block of South May Street was teeming with good people living in the graystone buildings. She said she had faith that 7th district Chicago police officers will work to protect the neighborhood this holiday season.
“I saw children out at 12:30 in the morning,” Coleman said. “Could you only imagine? Children, out because it was just that much activity going on. We don’t want this for our children, not on their Christmas break.”
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Alice Yin
Chicago Tribune
Dec 22, 2019 | 7:06 AM
Chicago police guard a crime scene in the 5700 block of S. May Street in Chicago after several people were shot there on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Thirteen people were wounded when a shooter opened fire inside a large memorial gathering early Sunday in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.
About 12:40 a.m., a house party was going on in the 5700 block of South May Street. Someone inside started shooting and struck 13 people, according to Chicago police.
The victims ranged in age from 16 to 48, and four of them were in critical condition following the shooting that was an “isolated” incident, Chicago police chief of patrol Fred Waller briefed reporters later that morning. The 16-year-old boy shot was one of the victims in critical condition, Waller said.
Two people of interest are in questioning, one of whom a revolver was recovered from, while the other one was still hospitalized with a gunshot wound. The dispute is not believed to be gang-related, Waller said.
The party was in honor of the birthday of Lonell Irvin, the 22-year-old man fatally shot during an attempted carjacking April in the Loop, according to multiple people at the scene.
Waller said during the party, a “dispute” occurred, leading to shots being fired inside the residence. Once people began to flee outside, a person was captured on a Chicago police pod camera firing more shots. Then a different shooter was seen shooting at a vehicle, Waller said.
“From outside, definitely there was two different shooters,” Waller said. “It looked like they were just shooting randomly at people as they exited the party.”
Outside the scene Sunday morning, some women huddled north of the red crime scene tape still had on their colorful shirts with Irvin’s face printed on top of his birth and death date. They expressed anger at how the party, which one woman said she spent hundreds of dollars on, was violently crashed by gunmen who were not invited.
“It was his birthday and they were just celebrating a memorial for somebody that passed away, and this is what they do,” said a 29-year-old woman who declined to give her name, citing safety concerns. “It’s real f---ing sad. Your kids can’t grow up, you can’t do nothing. This is what our life is going to be about.”
In Chicago, people grieving homicide victims have faced the added danger of perpetrators lurking nearby, ready to target a gathering of the deceased’s love ones. At a vigil in Chatham in January 2017, seven people, including a 12-year-old boy, were shot while paying respects to a woman slain in a shooting that same week.
Citywide, shootings and homicides are projected to drop by double-digit numbers for the third consecutive year, according to Chicago police data.
The 29-year-old woman stood for over an hour next to where she found one of her friends clutching her chest on the northwest corner of West 57th Street and May. She had been shot but, to the 29-year-old’s relief, was able to talk, requesting that someone call her daughter before being loaded into an ambulance.
It became difficult for residents on the block to keep track of all the gunshot victims. As the 29-year-old relayed that her friend was hospitalized, another woman, who just finished recounting watching her male friend bleed from a gunshot wound on the stairs, let out a deep sigh. “You f---ing lying,” she said in disbelief. “Where was she at?”
“She was lying right here,” the 29-year-old said, gesturing to the patch of grass in front of her. The other woman immediately got on the phone and paced down the block.
The 16th Ward alderman Stephanie Coleman said she was alerted to the shooting by about eight phone calls from residents on the block. She arrived to the scene to find chaos, but also helpers.
“I saw disappointment,” Coleman told reporters Sunday morning. “I saw frustration. I saw fear. I saw lots of concerned neighbors getting to the bottom of it.”
Terence Daniely, a 57-year-old who lives a few houses north of the shooting, said he was woken up by at least five gunshots. When he looked outside, it was as if the entire police district had swarmed the block, he said. With squad cars and ambulances clogging the street, some officers parked further away and were sprinting southbound toward the house of the memorial.
Daniely, who’s lived on the block for about four years, said he hopes for stiffer penalties for gun offenders and more support for youth at risk of turning to gang life.
“It’s so real, that lack of caring for life,” Daniely said. “It’s reckless, just reckless. How does it continually happen? When is it going to stop?”
The 29-year-old woman was less optimistic that there was a solution to all the violence. She understood why her neighborhood was frustrated and felt police weren’t helping, but in the end, she said she’s begun to believe there was nothing they could do either.
Latest Breaking News
“Y’all can try your best to stay out here and watch these streets all night, but no matter how they do it, it’s going to be multiple deaths, multiple shootings, innocent people getting shot,” the 29-year-old said. “I cannot wait to leave Chicago.”
Coleman said despite the gun violence Sunday, the 5700 block of South May Street was teeming with good people living in the graystone buildings. She said she had faith that 7th district Chicago police officers will work to protect the neighborhood this holiday season.
“I saw children out at 12:30 in the morning,” Coleman said. “Could you only imagine? Children, out because it was just that much activity going on. We don’t want this for our children, not on their Christmas break.”
[email protected]
