Chicago mass shooting during 100 car caravan kills three people, injures two
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A night of street racing ended in gunfire in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood. Five people were shot, and three of them died early Sunday morning.
A resident who lives above nearby businesses told CBS 2's Shardaa Gray that everyone was having fun, then shots rang out.
"I just hear pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop and, shoosh, I'm gone," said Darrell Cross.
Several donut circles were still visible Sunday at the intersection of Archer and Kedzie.
Cross has lived near there for five years. He heard the street racing and stepped outside to see what was going on.
"It was just jampacked with cars. All directions, all four directions. Kedzie, Archer, it was a dead stop. People were sitting on top of their cars, watching people spin out there," Cross said.
Three people died and two others were critically injured when someone opened fire. Chicago Police Commander Don Jerome said officers responded to the scene, in the 4300 block of South Kedzie in the Brighton Park neighborhood around 4 a.m., for reports of a large caravan of 100 cars drifting in the middle of the street. Thirteen shots were reported through ShotSpotter.
"Everybody was having fun and then the next thing you know it's all chaos," Cross said.
In July, the city passed an ordinance meant to crack down on illegal drag racing and drifting. The consequences are towing of the vehicle and a fine anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000.
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) said it's not working.
"It didn't work last night," he said. "And it wasn't just at this location. If this had been nipped in the bud at the very first location where this cycle of stupidity kicked off on last night, we wouldn't have five people shot here right now."
Lopez said residents are tired of the chaos, but accept the noise and don't file complaints with police because they feel helpless.
"So because we're not taking an aggressive stance to enforce it, every day constituents are now stopping their 911 calls, because they view it as a waste of time. But if we show consequence, I'm sure people will start calling again," he said.
Lopez said his residents, who are working class, are tired of feeling trapped in their own homes, and are fearful of going out because they don't want to get trapped in a situation like Saturday night.
The victims were Hispanic males between the ages of 15 and 20, who had gang affiliations. Two other men remain at Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition but are expected to survive.
