With nine people shot, two killed in downtown Chicago in past three days, what are the city's safety plans?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In just the past three days there have been four shootings in downtown Chicago – nine people have been shot, two of them were killed, and three of them were caught in crossfire.
We have asked city officials about safety and changes for weeks. On Tuesday, CBS 2's Tara Molina took a closer look at the crime.
On Tuesday morning just before 1:40 a.m., four people were shot on Wells Street near Ida B. Wells Drive, just steps south of where the Loop 'L' tracks take a 90-degree bend. One of the victims was a woman who happened to be crossing the street.
Police said two men started shooting and struck three people inside a Dodge Durango. They were all were hit multiple times.
A 38-year-old man and 31-year-old woman were taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County in critical condition. The third victim inside the car, a 28-year-old woman, was taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition.
Police said a 26-year-old woman crossing the street at the time of the shooting and was shot in the leg. She was taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition.
That woman was the third person caught in the crossfire of a downtown shooting this week. We asked city officials about safety plans.
"The West Side violence is as importance as the South Side as the downtown," said police Supt. David Brown. "It's all important to us."
Supt. Brown on Monday made a point of saying the department doesn't view violence in the city differently based on where it happens.
But with police cars and tape blocking off the fourth shooting scene in Chicago's Central Business District in three days, people who live, work, walk, and drive in the city are taking notice.
So we took a closer look at the numbers. The downtown are shootings span three neighborhoods – two shootings were right in the Loop, one was just across the Chicago River in River North, and one was in the Gold Coast near the north end of the Magnificent Mile.
In addition to the shooting early Tuesday:
• On Saturday at 1:05 a.m., one woman was killed and another was injured in a shooting in the 300 block of North State Street in River North, on the sidewalk outside Marina City and the House of Blues.
• On Sunday at 5 a.m., a man was found with multiple gunshot wounds inside a the Sonesta ES Suites hotel at 140 E. Walton Pl. He died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital soon afterward.
• On Sunday just before 5 p.m., two men were caught in crossfire in the alley known as Benton Place off Wabash Avenue and alongside the Chicago Theatre. The 27-year-old man and a 55-year-old man were wounded. Police on Monday said the victims were caught in the crossfire when three men who had been robbed at the Taco Bell Cantina at 178 N. Wabash Ave. turned the tables and fired upon the people who robbed them. That evening, the production of "Moulin Rouge! The Musical" at the Nederlander Theatre about a block away was canceled.
Data show crime in the Loop is way up from last year, but is on pace with how things looked back in 2020 – and technically down, overall, in 2019. The latest data available are from last week, before this recent violence.
Aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and motor vehicle theft are all at all-time highs this year in the Loop.
Meanwhile, these tables show crime data for River North and Streeterville, respectively. The data show a drop in crime for River North, but an increase for Streeterville compared with the same period in 2020 and 2021.
"We're putting together immediate plans that will start this week to add more resources to our downtown neighborhood," Brown said.
When we asked about the four shootings that have happened in the greater downtown area since Saturday morning, police said in a statement: "No one is in custody at this time. The incidents remain under investigation."
We continue to check in with police for updates on those investigations and safety plans moving forward.
As for the shooting on Wells Street downtown Tuesday morning, there was a bullet marking found in a nearby office building. Police haven't said if it is connected.
However, Illinois State Police also reported they found the car that was fired upon on the Eisenhower Expressway westbound at Harlem Avenue - and pulled over the car a mile and a half farther west on the westbound ramp from the Eisenhower to 1st Avenue. The sole occupant – a man driving – was arrested without incident.
The three people who were shot had already been dropped off at a local hospital by then, state police said. State police did not mention the shooters, and referred further questions to Chicago Police.
