The sun was setting over a South Side memorial for a man shot to death in 2008 when one young man spotted two others and started shooting.
The two returned fire. And when the bullets had stopped flying about 8 p.m. in the 300 block of West 105th street in the Burnside neighborhood, the only two victims were innocent bystanders, one a 6-year-old girl on her scooter who was hit in the chest, collapsed, and writhed a bit before she stopped moving, according to witnesses.
"It was horrific. Gruesome," 21-year-old Imani Branch said.
The child and her 52-year-old aunt both sustained through-and-through gunshot wounds, police said. The woman was shot in the thigh. Both are at Advocate Christ Medical Center, the younger in serious condition. The condition for the older woman had stabilized.
They were among two people killed and six wounded in shootings that started in late evening Friday. The two dead were in Humboldt Park on the West Side and Gresham on the South Side.
Area resident Tasha Moore said about 40 people had gathered in the area around 105th Street as a memorial for a man they all knew, Brandon Snype, who had been shot and killed 5 years ago while sitting in a porch on the same block. Moore said the 52-year-old woman who was shot was related to Snype.
Moore said the girl was riding a scooter with a group of children when she was shot, though Moore did not see where the shots came from.
Many in the group ducked or ran away after the shots were fired, Moore said.
Branch and her 20-year-old girlfriend Shushana Moore said they were trying to park and meet up with family when the shooting started. They doubled around the block in their car and sped toward the scene, where they saw dozens of people were on the ground or trying to run. Police weren't there yet.
The 911 call taker told callers to find a blanket or towel and cover the child's wound, which was gushing blood onto her white pants and the big flower on her belt buckle, down to her flip-flops, witnesses said. She still wasn't moving.
"I've never seen so much blood in my life," Shushana Moore said.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with as many as 40 people trying to flee the gunfire and dozens of police streaming into the neighborhood, an area targeted by the department for extra coverage because of persistent violence.
"It was three minutes but it felt like thirty," Branch said. "Anybody you could think of had blood on them"
Police worked into the night, until rain swept through the area, gathering the casings from fired rounds and other evidence from the scene.
"It's sad. It's real sad," Tasha Moore said. "They need to do something out here. Call the national guard in."
Other attendees of the memorial said shootings are common on 105th Street, an area some people call "Trouble City."
The barbecue is an annual event in an area rife with gangs. Police said two gangs – each of which only claims a few blocks of territory – are in conflict with each other in the area.
In other shootings:
• A 20-year-old man was killed in the 3800 block of West Hirsch Street in Humboldt Park. Someone shot him about 9:30 p.m. and he died in surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. The shooting may stem from an ongoing conflict between gangs in the area. The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the man as Carlos Barron, but was unable to say where the man lived.
• Someone walked up to a 27-year-old man and shot him in the head about 7:50 p.m. in the 8100 block of South Vincennes Avenue in Gresham. He was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center, authorities said. The Cook County medical examiner's office identified him as Maurice Gibson, of the 7900 block of South Ashland Avenue.
• Police found rocks of cocaine next to a 26-year-old man that had been shot about 1 a.m. in the 5900 block of South Sangamon Street in the Englewood neighborhood, police said. The man was hit in the abdomen and arm and taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in serious condition. The shooter opened fire from the inside of a passing dark car while the 26-year-old was walking on a sidewalk.
• Someone shot a 24-year-old man in both legs about 10:55 p.m. in the 7800 block of South Ellis Avenue in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side. Someone shot him from a passing white sedan, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where his condition had stabilized.
• An 18-year-old man was shot about 9:15 p.m. in the 9400 block of South Racine Avenue in the Brainerd neighborhood on the South Side. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in good condition, police said.
• In the 10100 block of South Union Avenue in the Fernwood neighborhood on the South Side, a 25-year-old man was shot about 8:20 p.m. Additional details about the shooting weren't immediately available.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
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