3 Dead, 7 Wounded in Overnight Shootings

Three men have been killed and at least another seven were wounded in gun violence on the city’s streets from Friday night to Saturday morning.

Additionally, police fatally shot one man and wounded another who allegedly pointed handguns at the officers at a block party on the Far South Side.

Brian Cherney, 22, was found shot to death on a sidewalk in the Northwest Side Belmont Cragin neighborhood early Saturday, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Police responded to a report of man down on the sidewalk at 2:20 a.m. and found Cherney dead at the scene in the 4800 block of West George Street, police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said.

Cherney, of the 4800 block of West Wolfram Street, suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.

One man was killed and another hurt when a shooter on a bicycle opened fire early Saturday in the West Side Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Jerell Butler, 26, of the 900 block of North Drake Avenue, was dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office. The men were standing on the sidewalk in the 900 block of North Drake Avenue about 1:10 a.m. when the shooter rode by and opened fire, police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said.

Butler was shot in the head and chest and was dead at the scene. The other man, 32, was shot in the upper right arm and taken in “stable” condition to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center.

A man was shot and killed during a robbery Friday night, two blocks away from his West Pullman neighborhood home on the Far South Side.

Alex J. Benison, 35, of the 12100 block of South Ada Street, was pronounced dead at the scene at 9 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

Benison was standing with a group of people behind a building located in the 12200 block of South Ada Street, police said. About 8:45 p.m., two gunmen approached the group and announced the robbery, causing the group to begin running. Benison was shot in the face, police said.

Other shootings included a man critically wounded early Saturday in a drive-by shooting in the West Englewood neighborhood.

The 28-year-old was in the 5600 block of South Marshfield Avenue about 12:40 a.m. when a gray SUV pulled up and someone inside opened fire, police said. He was shot in the chest and listed in critical condition at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

Two 18-year-old men were wounded in a shooting Friday night in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side, police said.

The two were walking in the 1000 block of North Waller Avenue when they felt pain about 9:40 p.m., police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.

One man was shot in the leg and arm, Greer said, and the other man suffered a gunshot wound to the toe. A friend drove the two men to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where they were listed in good condition, Greer said.

In another incident, police shot at one man and killed another after they allegedly pointed handguns at officers responding to a Roseland neighborhood block party Friday night.

Calumet District police tactical officers responded at 9:30 p.m. to calls of a man with a gun and of shots fired at a party in the 200 block of West 110th Street, according to a statement from police News Affairs.

Witnesses identified three men to police officers, the statement said. As the officers approached the men and announced themselves as police, the suspects fled the scene. The officers pursued on foot and two of the men pointed weapons at police.

Officers opened fire and one of the men was fatally shot in the 200 block of West 110th Place, the statement said.

The unidentified man in his 20s was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:49 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

The second man who allegedly pointed a gun was found in a nearby yard and arrested without incident, the statement said. The third suspect was arrested at the scene.

No police officers were injured and two weapons were recovered, the statement said.

“It’s a pretty simple equation. You point a gun at an officer, he’s gonna defend himself,” Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said. Camden said attendees of the large block party were the ones to call 9-11 about the armed men, and pointed them out to responding officers.