A Safer City
5-Year-Old Girl Among at Least 9 People Killed by Gunfire Over Memorial Day Weekend Across Chicago: Police
Chicago police officers responded to a fatal shooting in the 3100 block of West Carmen Avenue on May 27, 2024. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
A 5-year-old girl fatally shot on the Near West Side early Sunday morning was among nine people killed by gunfire over the three-day Memorial Day weekend across Chicago.
According to the Chicago Police Department, 41 people were shot in 30 separate shootings over the holiday weekend.
The 5-year-old, Reign Ware, was fatally shot at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of South Campbell Avenue. Police said a group of people were standing outside in that area when shots were fired. Ware, who was in a parked vehicle, was struck in her upper left abdomen and was rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
A second victim, a 24-year-old man, was also struck in the leg and was hospitalized in good condition. The Chicago Sun-Times reported nearly 60 shell casings from four different calibers of weapon were found at the scene.
Police officers fatally shot a man during a confrontation late Monday in the 300 block of South Cicero Avenue. According to a preliminary statement from the CPD, officers were on routine patrol at around 11:10 p.m. when they observed the man attempting to stab another man in the street.
According to the CPD, the officers ordered the offender to drop the weapon and attempted to de-escalate the situation, but the offender continued the attack, at which point they opened fire.
The first man was struck and later died. Police said the victim was also struck by gunfire, and was hospitalized in critical condition.
“Currently, the specifics of this incident, including the comprehensive use of force investigation, are being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability with the full cooperation of the Chicago Police Department,” the CPD said in its statement.
Two men in their early 20s were fatally shot in the 4700 block of North Troy just before 11:30 p.m. Friday. Officers responding to a report of shots fired found the victims in a nearby alley. Both were pronounced dead on scene. A witness told police they saw a black sedan fleeing the area at a high rate of speed.
A 39-year-old man was killed in the 1400 block of South Harding at around 1 a.m. Sunday. He was standing on the sidewalk in that area when someone fired shots, striking him multiple times.
A 28-year-old man died and three others were wounded Sunday in a shooting in the 1300 block of South Christiana Avenue. The victims were standing on the sidewalk with a group of people at around 3 a.m. when shots were fired. The 28-year-old was struck in the back and killed. The three other victims were each hospitalized in fair-to-good condition.
Three men were shot, one fatally, in the 0-100 block of East 113th Street at around 7:45 p.m. Sunday. Police said the victims were standing in that area when two men in an unknown vehicle drove up, produced firearms, and fired shots. A 35-year old man was killed, and the other victims — ages 49 and 42 — were hospitalized in critical condition.
An unidentified man was killed in the 1400 block of South Sacramento Drive just after 6 a.m. Monday. He’d been struck multiple times and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
About two hours later at 8 a.m., a 43-year-old man was fatally shot in the 8000 block of South Stewart Avenue. He was struck once and was initially hospitalized in critical condition, but later died of his injuries.
A 23-year-old man was killed in the 3100 block of West Carmen Avenue at 5 p.m. Monday. Police said he was near the street when he was approached by an unknown vehicle, and someone inside opened fire, striking the victim in the abdomen. He later died at a local hospital.
More than 50 people were shot and 11 were killed during the three-day Memorial Day weekend last year. Those totals were both up from 2022, when 9 people were killed and more than 40 other people were shot across Chicago.
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday said the city is offering support services to the families of gun violence victims. He said that although there is “a lot of work to be done still,” the number of shootings and homicides recorded thus far in 2024 are down compared to last year.
“There are some signs of improvement, but as long as we have the loss of life, or any shooting victim, no politician — quite frankly no Chicagoan — should celebrate,” he said during an unrelated press conference.
A Safer City is supported, in part, by the Sue Ling Gin Foundation Initiative for Reducing Violence in Chicago.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
