Chicago shootings this weekend: 31 shots, 4 fatal, in weekend gun violence citywide, CPD says

CHICAGO (WLS) — Interim Police Supt. Chicago’s Fred Waller held a press conference Monday thanking officials and community leaders for a safe and prosperous Puerto Rican festival and parade weekend.

Although no incidents were reported during Humboldt Park events, Waller said the department was examining how resources could be better deployed at future events.

WATCH: Interim CPD Supt. Fred Waller speaks out after violent weekend

“This weekend we were pretty overwhelmed on the lake shore and on the beaches because we had so many resources here,” Waller said.

Community activist Andrew Holmes said that with summer activities in full swing it is not just up to police officers to keep the peace. Neighbors can take care of each other.

“If Humboldt Park can come together, the whole city in different areas, from Englewood to the East Side and the West Side, can come together and fight this gun violence,” Holmes said.

At least 31 people were shot dead, four fatally, in gun battles across the city this weekend, police said.

Three people were shot dead at a CTA station south of the city over the weekend. Waller said the police are working in the future to be able to deploy officers where they are needed and to add more officers to the local transport unit.

“We always strive to do better. We are never satisfied. “We did a little better than last weekend, but we’re never satisfied with what we do,” said Waller.

Waller also thanked the officials whose days off were canceled because of work on the Puerto Rican festival and parade, saying there was always more work to be done going forward to ensure every event is safe.

Shooting on weekends

Two men were shot dead, one fatally, at the Chicago Lawn on the South Side on Sunday morning. They were outside on the 3100 block of West Redfield Drive when someone approached them around 8 a.m. and fired shots, Chicago police said. The elderly man, 30, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead. The other man, 25, was shot in the stomach and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was in critical condition.

A 20-year-old man was shot and killed later on Sunday in the North Lawndale neighborhood. He was standing on a sidewalk on the 1900 block of South St. Louis Avenue around 6 p.m. when someone in a vehicle approached and shots fired, hitting him multiple times, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his death was pronounced.

At around 1 a.m. Sunday, a man was fatally shot on a street in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Santos Rodriguez, 27, was shot multiple times while on the 3700 block of West Division Street, the Cook County Police Department and Health Department said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he died.

Three people — aged 16, 18 and 19 — were shot and killed near a CTA station on the first block of West 95th Street around 2:45 p.m. Sunday. According to police, a 19-year-old man fought with someone on the pavement before running into the station concourse. The person he was fighting fired shots, hitting the three teenagers. The 16-year-old boy was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition with gunshot wounds to his arm and back. The other two were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where the 18-year-old was in good condition and the 19-year-old was in good condition.

A 16-year-old boy was shot dead on a porch in Belmont Cragin on Saturday night. He was on the back porch of an apartment building on the 5300 block of West Oakdale Avenue around 9:30 p.m. when someone fired a gun and hit him in the head, police said. He was classified in critical condition at Illinois Masonic Hospital.

Three other teenagers – a 15-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy – were also injured in separate shootings in the south and west of the city over the weekend.

Last weekend, 46 people were shot, nine of them fatally.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

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(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire – Copyright Chicago Sun-Times 2023.)