Category: Shootings
Chicago violence: Almost 20 shot — 3 fatally — over weekend, police say
Nearly 20 people were shot — three of them fatally — in Chicago over the weekend, police told WBBM-TV.
The station said the shooting victims’ ages range from 18 to 70.
A woman of an unknown age was found unresponsive in an alley behind the 11000 block of South Mackinaw Avenue at 10:18 a.m., WBBM said. She had been shot twice in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, the station said.
Police reported only one shooting on Friday. It took place just before 6:30 p.m. in the 5500 block of South Lafayette Avenue where police said an unknown person shot a 43-year-old woman on the street multiple times, WBBM noted. The woman was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, the station said.
The shootings ramped up on Saturday, as police said a dozen people were hit by gunfire — two of them fatally, the station said.
In one of the fatal shootings, police told WBBM that individuals in a red Dodge Charger were traveling westbound in the 4400 block of West Augusta Boulevard just before 5:30 a.m. when they were struck by gunfire, after which the vehicle crashed. The driver, a 37-year-old man, was shot in the back while his 29-year-old male passenger was shot multiple times in the head, the station said. Both victims were taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital where the 29-year-old was in critical condition — but the 37-year-old, later identified as Mauro Josemartin, was pronounced dead, WBBM said.
Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune
In the other fatal shooting, a 23-year-old man was in a vehicle in the 4100 block of West Jackson Boulevard at 3:10 p.m. when he was hit in the chest by gunfire, the station said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County where he was pronounced dead, WBBM noted.
On Sunday, six people were shot, one of them fatally, the station said. In the fatal shooting, a woman of an unknown age was found unresponsive in an alley behind the 11000 block of South Mackinaw Avenue at 10:18 a.m., WBBM said. She had been shot twice in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, the station said.
Among the nonfatal shootings, four unknown gunmen approached a 43-year-old man in the 1500 block of East 75th Street just before 4 p.m. Saturday and opened fire at him, WBBM said. The man was hit in the ankle area and taken to a hospital in good condition, the station said.
On Sunday, two men — ages 18 and 19 — were in a business in the 100 block of East 51st Street just before 6 a.m. when a man came up and shot them both, WBBM said. The 18-year-old was shot in the upper right leg and transported himself to Provident Hospital of Cook County, the station said, adding that the 19-year-old was shot in the left calf and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center; both were in fair condition. Police told WBBM that the shooter was wearing a gray jumpsuit and fled east on foot.
Also on Sunday, police told the station that multiple people exited a dark-colored SUV outside a business in the 800 block of East 79th Street around 10:45 a.m. and shot two men, ages 66 and 70. The 66-year-old was hit in the right wrist, chest, and groin, police told WBBM, adding that the 70-year-old was hit once in the buttocks. Both victims were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where the 66-year-old was reported in critical condition, and the 70-year-old was in fair condition.
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Mass shootings at, near 2 historically black colleges on their homecoming weekends raise concerns about possible deadly trend
Mass shootings at and near a pair of historically black colleges and universities over their homecoming weekends Friday and Saturday left one dead and at least 11 wounded, authorities said.
The violence was an eerie repeat of tragedies that took place last fall at two HBCUs — also during their homecoming festivities — and some observers are concerned about a possible trend.
‘This is becoming an every-year occurrence at a lot of schools.’
1 dead, 6 wounded at Lincoln University
At Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania — about an hour and 15 minutes west of Philadelphia — one person was killed and at least six people were wounded after a shooting Saturday evening, WHP-TV reported.
Officials identified one suspect as 21-year-old Zecqueous Morgan-Thompson, the station said, adding that court documents indicated he was charged with carrying a firearm without a license and was being held in Chester County Prison on $25,000 bail.
Officials said they believe the suspects did not attend homecoming with the intent to commit a mass shooting, WHP reported.
RELATED: Black men don’t want to go to historically black colleges and universities? Here’s why
A 25-year-old male from Wilmington, Delaware, was identified as the deceased victim, the station said, adding that he reportedly was shot in the head. The six wounded victims are expected to survive and are in the same age range — between 20 and 25 years old, WHP said.
Lincoln University’s president in a Sunday statement said classes are canceled Monday in order to have a day of “healing and reflection,” the station said.
More from WHP:
Authorities have not released the names of any victims. The DA said they were in the process of speaking with victims to learn more about what happened during the shooting.
Lincoln University’s police chief said the shots were fired in the parking lot of the International Cultural Center on campus. He said at the time there was a tailgate ceremony taking place following the college’s homecoming football game. He said tents and other tables were set up throughout the lot.
5 wounded near Howard University
Five people were shot near Howard University — a historically black college and university in Washington, D.C. — on Friday night during its homecoming weekend, WRC-TV reported.
D.C. police said the victims — four adults and a teenager — were taken to hospitals and were expected to survive after the shooting at Georgia Avenue and Howard Place, the station said.
Witnesses told WRC that dozens of people ran down Georgia Avenue from the shooting scene to a McDonald’s after shots were fired.
According to a statement from Howard University, a fight or confrontation between two suspects occurred before shots were fired, WRC reported, adding that police said none of the shooting victims are Howard students.
The university added in a Saturday statement that nobody from Howard was involved in the shooting, the station reported.
WRC said the university’s Homecoming Kick-Off Alumni & Friends Welcome Reception and the Greek Step Show were being held Friday night.
‘Something’s going on’
The Root, in its report about the pair of shootings, quoted a TikTok user as remarking, “First Howard, now Lincoln, something’s going on.”
The outlet added, “Among the jokes and quippy TikToks is something darker … Black Americans are feeling unsafe.”
The Root said another TikTok user recalled shootings last year at HBCUs and wondered if this represents a trend. Another user said, “This is becoming an every-year occurrence at a lot of schools, smh,” according to the outlet.
Last fall, two shootings occurred at two HBCUs — also during their homecoming weekends.
A dozen people were shot — one of them fatally — at Tuskegee University in Alabama last November. The deceased individual, an 18-year-old, reportedly died at the scene. One man reportedly was charged with possession of a machine gun in connection with the shooting. A month prior, five people were shot — one fatally — in a crowded area near a campus concert at Albany State University in Georgia.
Following the 2024 HBCU shootings, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter penned an op-ed stating that there is a “growing and disturbing trend of gun violence that is threatening to change the nature of Black colleges’ most sacred institution — homecoming.”
The AJC reporter, Ernie Suggs, added:
In 2022, four people, including three students, were wounded near Clark Atlanta University after a drive-by shooting during a homecoming celebration.
In 2023, five people, including four students, were shot at Morgan State University. It was the third consecutive year that homecoming festivities at the Baltimore school were marred by gunfire.
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