The woman who was killed in a mass shooting that left 10 others wounded in Chicago late Sunday night was an "innocent bystander" who was caught in what police described as an "internal gang conflict" that has been ongoing for over a year, the city's top cop said Monday.
The shooting took place at around 10:53 p.m. in the 6200 block of South Artesian Avenue in the city's Chicago Lawn neighborhood, according to police. The victims were standing outside when three unknown male suspects emerged from an alley and fired shots into the crowd, according to police.
A total of 11 people who were outside at the time were shot, officials said, including one woman who was shot in the chest and taken to the University of Chicago Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office did not immediately release her age or identity.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said at a news conference Monday that the shooting stemmed from an "internal gang conflict" and that individuals in the crowd were targeted - but the woman who died was not.
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"We do know that was an internal gang conflict that has transpired over a year and that there were individuals in the crowd that were targeted," Brown said.
"One of the targeted individual was struck by gunfire," he continued. "The deceased woman was not targeted; she's an innocent bystander that was shot and killed by these gang members seeking retaliation."
Brown said several witnesses identified a car to investigators but added that police did not have a license plate number or a description of the suspects.
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"But we do know based on interviews thus far that it was gang-related, a gang retaliation," Brown said.
"It's been an ongoing conflict for over a year based on a shooting that happened a year ago," he later added.
The 10 other people wounded in that shooting included, according to Chicago police:
- A 35-year-old man who was shot in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition
- A 57-year-old woman who was shot in the shoulder and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition
- A 23-year-old woman who was shot in the hip and taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center in fair condition
- A 27-year-old man who sustained an unspecified gunshot wound and was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where his condition was not known
- A 38-year-old woman who was shot in the arm and leg and was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital in fair condition
- A 21-year-old woman was suffered a graze wound to the head and took herself to Holy Cross Hospital where she was listed in fair condition
- A 42-year-old man who was shot in the leg and also took himself to Holy Cross Hospital and was in fair condition
- A 29-year-old man who was shot in the leg and took himself to Holy Cross Hospital where he was in serious condition
- A 21-year-old man who was shot in the leg and was listed in fair condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center
- A 34-year-old man who sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the torso area and leg and was in serious condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center.
The incident was the second mass shooting to take place in Chicago in about two hours on Sunday evening, capping a violent weekend that saw more than 70 people shot across the city.
The earlier mass shooting on Sunday left one dead and five wounded in the South Shore neighborhood at around 8:44 p.m., authorities said.
No one is in custody in connection with either shooting, according to police, who continue to investigate.
"This has got to stop and we need the federal government and all of our partners to step up and do their parts," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said of the city's violence during an unrelated news conference Monday morning.
Brown said the policing strategy in the wake of both mass shootings will "adapt and obviously deploy around the gang conflict," noting that officers would make stops, notify known gang members and attempt to things like social services and violence interrupters, among other tactics as the city looks ahead to the often-violent Fourth of July holiday weekend.
