Deadliest weekend of the year in Chicago: 12 killed, 42 wounded in shootingson May 24, 2021 at 4:26 pm

At least 12 people were killed and another 42 were wounded in Chicago over the weekend, the deadliest of the year.

Nearly all of the violence happened in neighborhoods on the South and West sides identified by the city last fall as “priority community areas” where police and other resources were to be boosted.

According to a report issued by the Lightfoot administration titled “Our City, Our Safety,” 15 community areas have accounted for more than 50 percent of all shootings over the last three years.

Fifty percent of the shooting victims were “within 10 community areas that comprise 15 percent of the city’s population,” the report noted.

The first shooting of the weekend was in West Garfield Park, where a man was shot 11 times in front of his home, according to Chicago police. Nine other people were shot over the next six hours, including a man and woman in a parking lot in South Chicago; a couple shot to death in a convenience store in East Garfield Park; and just before midnight, a 15-year-old boy killed on a porch in Lawndale — the youngest victim of the weekend.

The boy, Dajon Gater, was shot when two gunmen opened fire in the 3900 block of West Lexington Street, police said. The 15-year-old was shot in his head and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Other homicides:

— Early Monday, a 56-year-old man was shot to death in West Garfield Park. Officers found the man unresponsive with a gunshot wound to neck about 1:30 a.m. in the 4500 block of West Maypole Avenue, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.

— On Sunday night, two men were found fatally shot in Bronzeville on the South Side. About 8:40 p.m., they were found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds inside a car in the 4600 block of South Federal Street, police said. The 49-year-old man and 56-year-old man were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

— A man was killed and another wounded in a drive-by Sunday in Homan Square on the West Side. About 7:10 p.m., they were riding in a car in the 3700 block of West Flournoy Street, when someone fired at them from the street, police said.

A 25-year-old man was struck in the abdomen and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he died, police said. His name hasn’t been released. A 31-year-old man was also grazed by a bullet on his right shoulder and taken to the same hospital in good condition.

— A man was shot and killed early Sunday in West Garfield Park. The 49-year-old was standing outside about 12:15 a.m. in the first block of North Kilbourn Avenue when someone got out of a silver sedan and began firing, police said. He was struck multiple times in the face and body and pronounced dead at the scene.

— On Saturday night, a man was killed and two others wounded in a shooting in Washington Park. Johnnie Williams, 46, was with two others on the sidewalk in the 5500 block of South Michigan Avenue when people in a gray Jeep and a blue Acura opened fire about 7:30 p.m., police said. Williams was shot in the back and was taken to the University of Chicago, where he was pronounced dead.

Another man, 30, was shot in the head and critically wounded, police said. A third man, 50, was struck in the arm and hospitalized in good condition.

— Early Saturday morning, two men were shot dead in West Garfield Park. They were standing outside in the 4000 block of West Wilcox Street when someone fired shots at 2 a.m., police said.

One man, 24-year-old Haniff Collins, was shot in his head, neck, chest and leg, police said. He was taken to Loretto Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. The second man, 29-year-old Derrick McCampbell, died after being shot in the chest, torso and arm.

— Hours earlier, a man was fatally shot on the Eisenhower Expressway on the West Side. Jerry Thornton, 27, was westbound on Interstate 290 about 12:07 a.m. when someone fired shots from another car on the ramp to Austin Boulevard, Illinois State Police said. The Austin neighborhood resident was pronounced dead at a hospital.

— Friday night, a man and woman were shot dead at an East Garfield Park convenience store. About 10:25 p.m., a man was arguing with a 23-year-old woman in the 500 block of North Kedzie Avenue when he began shooting at her and an 18-year-old man with her, police said.

Destiny Nunez of Aurora suffered a gunshot wound to the torso and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, officials said. Adrian Navarro, 18, was struck in the torso and leg and transported to Humboldt Park Health hospital, where he died.

At least 42 other people were wounded between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Monday.

Last weekend, 48 people were shot citywide, including a 2-year-old girl, a 13-year-old boy and two Chicago police officers.

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