Adriana Williams | Homicide Watch Chicago

WEEK IN REVIEW: Seven more killed in Chicago, including three on a Sunday marred by gang shootings in Brighton Park

Jeff Mayes — Thu, 11 May 2017 15:00:31 -0500

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.

Siblings Michael and Adriana Williams killed when gunmen open fire during memorial for man killed earlier in the day

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 10 May 2017 15:07:38 -0500

By LAUREN FITZPATRICK and MATTHEW HENDRICKSON
Chicago Sun-Times

Michael A. Williams and his sister Adriana Williams had stopped at a memorial service for a friend who had been killed hours earlier in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Michael Phillips and his sister Adriana were shot to death at a memorial service for a friend Sunday evening in Brighton Park. | Facebook

As the gatherers mourned, two gunmen, apparently using assault rifles, 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 Chicago Police Deputy Supt. Kevin Navarro.

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, authorities said, while Adriana was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:57 p.m.

Bullet holes riddle a vehicle parked near the scene of a shooting on 46th Place and Rockwell that left 2 people dead and 8 wounded on Sunday. | Lauren Fitzpatrick/Sun-Times

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, police said. 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, Navarro said: “This evening at approximately 5:15 p.m., we had another brazen act of gang violence on the streets of Chicago. The people shot were participating in a memorial for a subject that was murdered earlier in the day and during this memorial, two subjects came out of an alley east of the location on 46th Place and opened fire with rifles.”

Police said the shooters were masked and may have left the area in a light-colored van or SUV.

Michael is a father of two who attended Wendall Phillips Academy. His older sister is the mother of three, who attended Crane Tech and later Malcolm X College. They both lived in the Little Village neighborhood.

The shooting is thought to be gang-related retaliation for a murder earlier Sunday in the same block, police said.

Evidence markers line the street after a shooting Sunday night in Brighton Park that left a brother and sister dead, and 8 other people injured. | Lauren Fitzpatrick/Sun-Times

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.

The morning murder, Navarro said, also was a gang-related shooting, and also involved an assault rifle.

The worst mass shooting in the city in four years comes was likely related to a gang turf war, with four or more Hispanic gangs or factions battling for territory in Brighton Park and Back of the Yards, police said.

Two plainclothes police officers were shot not far away a week earlier, and a suspect allegedly told police the shooters thought they were gang members.

Police said they do not believe Sunday's shootings were related to the incident with police.

“I am thankful today that no innocent lives were lost, no children were shot, no police officers were shot,” said Ald. Raymond Lopez.

He said the Sunday afternoon shooting marked “the second time in a week we’re here tonight talking about assault weapons being used in our communities. Last week we seen assault rifles used on police. Today they’re used on gang members in the Brighton Park community. In broad daylight. On a Sunday.”

Ald. Raymond Lopez (right) and CHicago Police Dep. Cmdr. Kevin Navarro discuss the recent ooutbreak of violence in the Brighton Park neighborhood, part of a turf war between several different gangs. | Lauren Fitzpatrick/Sun-Times

Following his comments, Lopez said he received death threats, and a police security detail was protecting him in the following days.

"I was elected to defend my residents and will continue to do so," the alderman said while declining to comment on the alleged threats.

No one was in custody for the Sunday's shootings as of Wednesday, but police were saturating the neighborhood in a search for suspects and to discourage another retaliation shooting.

"We have a fairly good idea who we're looking for," Deputy Chief Kevin Ryan said. "We have a fairly good idea of the conflict involved and where we need to be deployed.”