After three mass shootings in under 24 hours, and with more than 20 people shot since Tuesday morning, activists are calling on Chicago officials to take more action ahead of the start of summer.
The latest shooting occurred in the city’s West Englewood neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon. At approximately 5:45 p.m., four people were traveling together in a car when they were shot by an unknown assailant.
Two of the victims, an 11-year-old boy and a 6-year-old boy, were taken to a local hospital in good condition.
Two other adults that were in the vehicle were also hospitalized in good condition, according to authorities.
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“Children are not safe,” community activist Andrew Holmes said. “I mean, you’re in the car, the car gets sprayed. You’re walking, they’re shooting down the street.”
The shooting was just the latest that injured numerous victims in the last 24 hours alone. At approximately 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 4800 block of South Ada, at least five people were shot in an incident of gang retaliation.
One of the victims, a 19-year-old, was fatally shot in the head, and two other teens were hospitalized in critical condition after the shooting.
As Chicago police investigated that shooting, they say that gang members began to assault officers at the scene.
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“Gang members began assaulting police officers that are trying to establish some sort of safety at the crime scene,” Police Supt. David Brown said.
Just six hours later in the 6400 block of South Richards, six people were shot by two men in an SUV.
Two of the victims, a 29-year-old woman and a 37-year-old woman, were hospitalized in serious condition, while the other four suffered injuries.
Chicago police have pledged to step up patrols and increase officer presence in areas hard-hit recently by crime. Officials say they are planning to cancel days off for officers across the city beginning May 24 ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, but activists like Holmes say that more urgent action is needed.
“We can’t worry about Memorial Day,” he said. “We have to worry about the next hour, the next minute. Because as we stand here now, somebody is discharging a weapon on somebody.”
