At least one teen killed, eight wounded in Loop shootings hours after tree-lighting ceremony.
A late Friday night turned deadly in Chicago's downtown area, with multiple teenagers caught in the crossfire of two separate shooting incidents within an hour of each other. The first incident occurred around 9:50 p.m. near the iconic State Street and North Lake Michigan Boulevard intersection outside the Chicago Theatre. According to eyewitnesses, a large group of young people was on the scene when police officers observed them on patrol heard gunshots.
Seven teenagers were shot in this initial incident with some suffering non-life-threatening graze wounds while others sustained more serious injuries including multiple gunshot wounds that left one 18-year-old male dead. Three other teens received minor grazing wounds, a 14-year-old girl suffered a wound to the hip while another teenager was injured in her leg.
Just under an hour later, officers discovered two more teenagers who had been shot in separate incidents on South Dearborn Street. The police initially reported that one of the victims died shortly after arrival at Northwestern Memorial Hospital from multiple gunshot wounds. The other teen, also 18 years old, received serious injuries with a leg wound and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Eyewitness accounts paint a picture of chaotic scenes in Chicago's downtown area as hundreds of young people converged on the city centre. Video footage posted online showed officers tending to those injured and police evidence technicians searching for shell casings from their firearms.
In response to violence such as this, there has been an ongoing debate over whether or not Chicago should implement a curfew for minors during major events in the downtown area. Some have suggested limiting the hours that large groups of juveniles can gather in these areas while others point to the need for greater recreational opportunities and job creation in underserved communities on the city's South and West sides.
As one local alderman noted on social media, hundreds of young people had been "rioting" in the Loop. The Mayor of Chicago has previously vetoed a proposal that aimed to limit gatherings of this nature with advance notice allowing police to declare curfews.
A late Friday night turned deadly in Chicago's downtown area, with multiple teenagers caught in the crossfire of two separate shooting incidents within an hour of each other. The first incident occurred around 9:50 p.m. near the iconic State Street and North Lake Michigan Boulevard intersection outside the Chicago Theatre. According to eyewitnesses, a large group of young people was on the scene when police officers observed them on patrol heard gunshots.
Seven teenagers were shot in this initial incident with some suffering non-life-threatening graze wounds while others sustained more serious injuries including multiple gunshot wounds that left one 18-year-old male dead. Three other teens received minor grazing wounds, a 14-year-old girl suffered a wound to the hip while another teenager was injured in her leg.
Just under an hour later, officers discovered two more teenagers who had been shot in separate incidents on South Dearborn Street. The police initially reported that one of the victims died shortly after arrival at Northwestern Memorial Hospital from multiple gunshot wounds. The other teen, also 18 years old, received serious injuries with a leg wound and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Eyewitness accounts paint a picture of chaotic scenes in Chicago's downtown area as hundreds of young people converged on the city centre. Video footage posted online showed officers tending to those injured and police evidence technicians searching for shell casings from their firearms.
In response to violence such as this, there has been an ongoing debate over whether or not Chicago should implement a curfew for minors during major events in the downtown area. Some have suggested limiting the hours that large groups of juveniles can gather in these areas while others point to the need for greater recreational opportunities and job creation in underserved communities on the city's South and West sides.
As one local alderman noted on social media, hundreds of young people had been "rioting" in the Loop. The Mayor of Chicago has previously vetoed a proposal that aimed to limit gatherings of this nature with advance notice allowing police to declare curfews.
ugh man dis is just awful... chicago's loop always gettin hit by senseless violence 
1 teen dead, 8 wounded & hundreds in the crossfire? how many more gotta die or get hurt b4 we take action? 
the fact dat 2 separate incidents happen within an hour of each other got me thinkin... is it just a coincidence or is somethin bigger goin on here? 
also, curfew proposal sounds like a great idea, let's see what happens if we limit gatherin' times in da loop 
this is just so sad 
i mean, what's going on in chicago right now? 
it feels like the city's already in chaos and then these shootings happen 
and people are already talking about a possible curfew for teens? 
they got like 2 separate shootouts in an hour and it's just so sad 
at least one teen is dead and 8 more are hurt... like, who is behind this? 
i'm really frustrated about the whole curfew debate tho - i get that safety is important but restricting freedom of minors isn't gonna solve anything... we need better rec ops and job opportunities for all ages not just a quick fix with a curfew 
it's like, can't we all just get along? 
. It feels like we're just treating the symptoms rather than the disease, you know? 
. And now this just adds another layer of tragedy. The fact that we're even debating whether or not to implement curfews for minors during events in downtown areas says a lot about the systemic issues at play 
, and only like 22% of those teens have access to job training programs 
.
This is getting outta hand... all these kids, just lookin' for a night out, and next thing you know, they're caught in the crossfire. Can't we find ways to keep 'em safe instead of tryna lock 'em down? It's like, we gotta address the underlying issues, not just slap some restrictions on. What's the point of havin' all these events if we ain't gonna make sure our kids are protected? 
just can't believe what's happening in Chicago 
and it's like they're just getting more frequent 
️ I mean, the mayor is all about "community development" but what's being done to actually help these young people? 
... and some parents need to keep an eye on their kids 
. We gotta think about the future here