By JEFF MAYES
Homicide Watch Chicago
A burst of gang violence in the Southwest Side Brighton Park neighborhood on Sunday left three people dead, including a brother and sister visiting a memorial for a slain friend, and capped a week that saw seven people killed in homicides across the city as Chicago neared the 200 homicide mark.
While the 200th homicide was not recorded until Monday, Sunday’s outbreak of gun violence — perpetrated by gang members using assault rifles, according to Chicago Police — left three dead and eight wounded in two separate incidents on the same block.
Michael A. Williams and his sister Adriana Williams had stopped at a memorial service for a friend killed hours earlier. As the gatherers mourned, two gunmen, opened fire on the crowd, leaving the siblings dead and eight other people wounded about 5:15 p.m. Sunday at Rockwell Street and 46th Place, according to police.
Michael Williams, 24; and Adriana Williams, 27, were both shot multiple times, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Michael was pronounced dead at the scene, while Adriana was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:57 p.m.
A 19-year-old woman was shot in the right leg, and a 25-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to the right hip and right elbow, police said. They were taken in good condition to Mount Sinai Hospital. Six more people were listed in good condition at Stroger: a 23-year-old man and two 26-year-old men were all shot in their right legs; a 26-year-old man was shot in both ankles; a 25-year-old woman was shot in the right arm; and another 23-year-old man suffered bullet fragment wounds to his right leg.
At a brief press conference Sunday night, a police official called it “another brazen act of gang violence on the streets of Chicago.” Police said the shooters were masked and may have left the area in a light-colored van or SUV.
The shooting was thought to be gang-related retaliation for a murder earlier Sunday in the same block, police said. About 4:30 a.m., officers responded to a call of a person shot in the 2500 block of West 46th Place and found 26-year-old Daniel Cordova unresponsive on the ground between two parked cars, police said. He had been shot in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.
- A teenage boy was killed and a man wounded in a shooting late Saturday in the Vittum Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side. Jesus Escobar, 16, and a 19-year-old man were standing outside about 11:55 p.m. in the 4800 block of South La Crosse Avenue when someone in an SUV fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Escobar was shot in the head and was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 3:31 p.m. Sunday, authorities said. He lived in south suburban Blue Island. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the right foot and was taken in good condition to Mount Sinai.
- One man was killed and another wounded early Sunday when a robber opened fire in a Montclare neighborhood restaurant on the Northwest Side, owned by the family of the man killed. About 2:50 a.m., the suspect, wearing a ski mask, robbed La Fiesta Taqueria at gunpoint in the 7100 block of West Diversey, according to police. Two men, ages 19 and 22, were shot trying to stop the robbery.
The younger man, Jaime Arceo, suffered a gunshot wound to the right shoulder, and was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5:04 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in west suburban Elmwood Park. The older man was shot in the back and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized. The robber ran from the scene after taking money from the register, police said.
- A 19-year-old man was shot to death Friday afternoon inside a Bronzeville apartment building on the South Side. About 4:45 p.m., three gunmen followed Harry J. Davis as he walked into the apartment in the 4500 block of South Drexel and shot him repeatedly in the head, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Davis was pronounced dead at the scene. He lived in the Washington Park neighborhood. A weapon was recovered.
- It was the first fatal shooting in the city in nearly five days, marking the third-longest stretch this year without a homicide.
The first was a man killed in a shooting early Monday in the Gage Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side. Edgar Romero, 38, got out of a vehicle he was driving about 1:45 a.m. in the 2700 block of West 51st Street, then got into an altercation with two male passengers, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. One of the passengers took out a gun and shot him in the head, police said. The passengers then got back into the car and drove away. Romero, who lived in North Lawndale, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m.