‘Killing For Sport': 4 Shot, 1 Fatally, Possibly With Assault Rifle, Chicago Alderman Says

Four people were shot, one fatally, possibly with an assault rifle, in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood Wednesday night on the city’s South Side, officials confirmed.

“We believe an assault rifle was used because we’ve recovered almost 30 [bullet] casings on 42nd and Talman,” Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, said, adding that he believed gang members were "killing for sport" in his community.

All four people shot were in the same vehicle near the intersection of West 42nd Street and South Talman Avenue, officials say, with the survivors being transferred to Stroger Hospital. One was in good condition while the other three were critical. Officials said the shooting, which happened around 6 p.m. not far from Shields Elementary School, was gang related.

"There's no rhyme or reason—they’re killing for sport to say they killed that gang member or that gang member—for bragging rights of saying they killed people,” Lopez said.

Lopez addressed reporters as rain pelted the black umbrella he held above himself and activist Andrew Holmes. He said a group of gang members in a white van cornered some young men who were also “possibly gang members” and ambushed them.

“I guarantee you somebody in that car knew who was shooting at them,” Holmes said.

The victims drove from where they were shot to the intersection of Western and Archer avenues where the car, riddled with bullets, came to a stop, officials said.

“This is proof positive that weapons of war like assault weapons and assault rifles with cartridges this thick do not belong in our streets,” he said.

The shootings come just days after the Chicago Police Department announced its strategy to stem the tide of shootings and murders in 2017 through a multipronged policing policy and implementing new technology. According to police, there were 762 murders, 3,550 shooting incidents and 4,331 shooting victims in 2016.

Police were investigating Wednesday night and no one was in custody.

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