Chicago body count: 4 dead, 35 shot over the weekend
Continuing a disturbing trend of violent and deadly clashes in Chicago, this weekend saw shootings that took the lives of at least four people across the city and injured another 35.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the killings were the results of gang-related shootings, and point-blank encounters, including one incident in which the victim was shot in his own kitchen from outside the home. Non-fatal shootings also occurred, including a drive-by that injured four men who were standing on a sidewalk.
The first of the weekend’s fatalities occurred Friday evening, when 32-year-old Leonore Draper was found shot inside of a parked vehicle in the West Pullman neighborhood, about an hour after she reportedly left an anti-violence event. Local residents told police they heard gunshots around 10:30 p.m.
When police found Draper – a Chicago Public Schools budget analyst – she had suffered gunshot wounds to her chest and arm. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead just after 12:30 a.m. Police told the Sun-Times they are looking into the possibility that the incident was a drive-by.
Around 1:15 a.m. on Saturday, 21-year-old Martarvian Emery was at home with a 19-year-old woman when an unknown individual standing outside opened fire. The assailant fatally shot Emery in the chest, who was declared dead at the scene, and also wounded the woman in the leg. She was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition, according to the Chicago Tribune.
A little more than an hour later, Jaquez Williams, 17, was declared dead in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. Williams was standing outside when an unknown individual approached him and shot him in the head.
The most recent death occurred on early Sunday morning, when Cindy Bahena, 21, was shot and killed in the back seat in the back seat of a car being driven by a known gang member. According to the Sun-Times, police News Affair Officer Hector Alfaro said multiple men were standing near the car when one of them began shouting gang slogans and fired shots at the vehicle.
Bahena is not believed to be the intended target of the shooting. She was taken to a hospital but declared dead at 12:47 a.m.
Even before the past weekend’s fatalities were being tallied, the Tribune reported deadly encounter between an off-duty police officer and his 86-year-old neighbor on Friday afternoon. According to police, an argument between the two parties escalated when the neighbor shot and wounded the officer’s wife. This caused the officer to fatally shoot the man, and subsequently shoot and injure the neighbor’s wife when she reportedly attempted to reach for her husband’s shotgun.
No arrests have been made in connection to any of these crimes, though authorities say they are investigating.
These events are just the latest in a string of deadly weekends in Chicago. As RT reported previously, Easter weekend saw shootings take the lives of 9 people and injure 32 others. At the time, the city had seen 288 people victimized by shootings since the start of 2014. In 2013, approximately 2,100 people were involved in shootings.
