Results tagged “violence”

       

We're three weeks removed from the awarding of the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio over Tokyo, Madrid, and, yes, Chicago. But in the weeks since the announcement, while we in Chicago have been focused on figuring out what went wrong, Rio has been dealing with another problem: a continued string of high-profile violence. Last weekend, a police helicopter was shot down in a gun battle between police and gangs. Already dealing with one of the highest murder rates in the world, 29 people have been killed since this past weekend. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, “I need to clean the filth that drug traffickers impose on Brazil," and Sérgio Cabral, Rio’s governor, added, “We want to get to 2016 with a Rio de Janeiro in peace before, during and after the Games."

Two 911 emergency center employees have been suspended without pay for their part in a "dispatch delay" that left an off-duty Chicago cop alone to defend himself against a car full of alleged gang members, the Sun-Times reports.

This morning, Rev. Jesse Jackson hopped on board a bus with Fenger High School students from the Altgeld Gardens housing development in an attempt to bring attention to what Jackson calls "a state of emergency given patterns of violence and patterns of killing." Students from Altgeld Gardens were transferred to Fenger when their old school, Carver High School, was closed to be converted to a military academy. Residents and students claim the outbreak of violence at Fenger - including the brawl that resulted in the highly-publicized death of Derrion Albert - stems from tension between the Altgeld Gardens students and students from the "Ville" portion of the Roseland neighborhood that surrounds Fenger. Jackson said, "Parents are unanimous in wanting their students to walk to Carver...We must relieve them (the students) of the feeling of harm, the fear of death." [Tribune, CBS 2]

Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are in town today to meet privately with Mayor Daley and select Chicago Public School students and parents to discuss youth violence.

Less than a week after the violent brawl that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Derrion Albert, another violent teen beating happened last night, this time in the Edgwater neighborhood. According to the Tribune:

Video of a violent brawl that resulted in the death of one teen was caught on tape and FOX 32 obtained the video caught on a cell phone camera. Four students were injured and 16-year-old Derrion Albert was killed in the brawl. Be warned, the footage is pretty graphic and harrowing. At about 48 seconds in, one student - no word if it's Albert - is beaten over the head with a two by four. Later in the video, Albert's body is seen but blurred out of the video by Fox, as others rush to his aid and carry his body out of the way.

Derrion Albert, 16, was beaten to death in the midst of violent brawl yesterday afternoon. The brawl occurred yesterday afternoon around 3 p.m. near 111th and Wallace in Roseland. According to the Tribune:

On the afternoon of May 9, 2008, John Conroy - former writer for the Chicago Reader - was the victim of an unprovoked attack on the West Side while riding his bike. He's now captured the incident, his experience, and an unflinching look at youth, violence, and race in a stunning piece of work for Chicago Magazine. Check it out here. [via WindyCitizen]

After a failed attempt to shoot and kill an off-duty cop believed to be a rival, four gang members were charged with attempted first-degree murder, Chicago Breaking News reports.

An increase in robberies and gang members hanging out in various parts of Rogers Park has area residents worried.

Narcotics police arrested two men suspected of shooting a man in his 30s during a robbery Friday afternoon on the South Side.

The Chicago 2016 folks won't be happy about this. The U.K.'s Guardian has picked up on the number of school-aged children killed in Chicago over the past year in a story titled, "Chicago's Murdered Children." There's even a video to accompany the story. [via]

Yesterday we mentioned the rash of attacks by a group of men in the Lincoln Park over the weekend and now two more attacks have happened, one in Lincoln Park and one in Lakeview. The Lincoln Park attack happened late last night at Fullerton and Cannon and the victim was able to fight the group off with a bicycle chain, though he did give up $137 in cash. Another attack occurred near Halsted and Buckingham in Lakeview where a man was beaten and robbed of his wallet and cell phone. Thus far, despite the similarity to last week's muggings, police have yet to connect either attack to those earlier ones. So far, authorities have only issued vague descriptions of the attackers.

Residents in Lincoln Park are on alert after a recent spate of late night robbery/beatings. Two attacks happened early morning Thursday and two more early morning Saturday. In all instances, the victims were approached by a group of at least four attackers who robbed and then beat the victim; two of the four victims had to be hospitalized for their injuries. Authorities say all four attacks are connected. [Trib, CBS 2]

The city's violent July has now extended into August. A gang-related shooting broke out at a funeral yesterday afternoon on city's West Side injuring six. The funeral was for admitted gang member Cornelius Antwon Robinson who had died of a heart attack. A man walked up to the crowd of mourners on the sidewalk and open fire on one man in particular and then began shooting those around him. Police say the shooting was gang-related and indicated that while most witnesses weren't cooperating, a few were. They're also using surveillance video from two nearby pod cameras to help sift out details. [CBS 2]

• Gov. Quinn outlined today how he plans to cut $1 billion from the state budget, including job cuts and asking some employees to give up pay raises.
• A violent month is drawing to a close; so far, 225 people have been shot in Chicago in July with 42 of those being deaths.
• A suspicious package found this morning outside Oprah's Harpo Productions, Inc building was proved to be safe.

In another outbreak of violence, at least 15 people were injured in a spate of shootings overnight. The most violent of those happened in East Garfield Park where seven were injured in one shooting. According to a Chicago Breaking News report:

• A UPS driver is in critical condition after being shot while making a delivery in the Englewood neighborhood.
• The U.S. Department of Education has ruled that the City College's debit card system is illegal.
• On the chopping block from the state Board of Education: after-school and gifted students programs.

A pair of shootings within an hour in the Austin neighborhood last night left seven people, including a 9-year-old girl, injured. The first shooting occurred at 7:45 p.m., a drive-by shooting near West Monroe Street and South Lotus Avenue that injured five men between the ages of 17 and 29. One was reported in serious-to-critical, one in good condition and the other three ranged from fair-to-serious condition to good condition. About half an hour later, another drive-by shooting happened in the 1000 block of North Leclaire Ave., injuring the 9-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy. Both were in fair-to-serious condition. Police have not said whether or not they suspect the shootings were related. Two more shootings happened last night in the neighborhood as well, bringing the evening's total to nine injured in about a 3.5 hour period. [Chicago Breaking News]

• Two Chicago Police officers were shot today while trying to execute a warrant on the Southeast Side. Each officer was shot in a leg and both were reported in good condition.
• The police shooting followed last night's violent six hour window which saw four killed and eight wounded in shootings.
• Gov. Quinn has joined the fray over Burr Oak Cemetery, appointing a task force to look at cemetery operations state-wide.

A soldier was killed Thursday evening after getting food at a restaurant with his cousin, the Sun-Times reports. Simeon Sanders, 21, was shot while crossing the street to avoid men arguing on the sidewalk in the south suburb of Harvey. Sanders was visiting his family during his furlough. Harvey police are currently investigating the incident, according to the Sun-Times. Funeral arrangements are to be determined.

Reacting to the violent holiday weekend that saw 11 people killed in over 60 shootings (and a stabbing thrown in for good measure), Mayor Daley took to the defensive, citing other reasons rather than the diversion of police to cover the Taste of Chicago (which had its own issues). Namely, the mayor blamed alcohol and the warmer weather for the outbreak.

After an exceptionally violent weekend, some people are wondering if violence may have been worse than the city wants us to think. The anonymous police watchdog blog, Second City Cop, compiled their stories from the field at Taste and noted that the fireworks may have started half an hour early to stave off more violence. Mike Doyle rounded up comments and reports from the city, the media and the blogosphere on his Chicagosphere blog. Doyle's point is a good one: the disparity between eyewitness reports and ones filtered by City officials through the media can differ greatly.

On the heels of the announcement last week that crime in Chicago was down in the first half of 2009 over the first half of 2008, Chicago experienced one of its most violent weekends so far this year. Weekend violence accounted for 63 shootings, one stabbing, and a total of 10 deaths. Of course, looking back at last summer's violence, the bloody start to this July is pretty pedestrian, all the more reason to be skeptical about that recent decrease claim: last year's murder tally was the highest in five years, undermining the claim that violent crime is decreasing rather than just returning to normal levels.

Yes, we know yesterday was a holiday and there was a lot of alcohol being consumed and all kinds of other factors that can fuel violence outbreaks, but this screenshot of Chicago Breaking News this morning gave us a bit of a jolt, especially after the earlier claim that violence was down in the city.

• The B.F. Shaw Printing Co., parent company of the McHenry County-based newspaper Northwest Herald, has sued Cal Skinner Jr. of the McHenry County Blog for damages based on a post Skinner made regarding an alleged loan to the paper, claiming such a loan never happened.
• The City has filed applications for grants that would provide upwards of $106 million meant to hire 400 new police officers. But the grants, good for three years, contain the provision that the officers have to remain on the city payroll for at least one additional year after.
• At yesterday's Pride Parade, Sen. Roland Burris supported civil unions but stopped short of endorsing gay marriage - a view shared by Pres. Barack Obama.

• As the Tribune Company works at reorganizing in the wake of their bankruptcy filing, Sam Zell could find himself now longer in control.
• An interesting Chicago-centric take on Obama's speech in Cairo.
• Beware the Blue Line: delays and boarding changes have now made the move to mid-week.

A report by the Riverside/Brookfield Landmark claims Riverside police are saying that shots fired at a house located in the 300 block of Scottswood Road yesterday morning were actually intended for a neighboring house: the residence of Cook County Commissioner (and serial Tweeter) Tony Peraica.

Just a few days after the Chicago Public Schools revised its number of students killed this school year, a shooting last night claimed another student. Gregory Robinson, a 14-year-old freshman at Simeon Career Academy, was shot and killed while sitting in a vehicle with a relative. Police are still investigating and haven't said whether or not they believe Robinson was the intended target. The shooting happened around 10:45 p.m. near the intersection of 110th Place and Aberdeen Street, and Robinson was pronounced dead at 11:35 p.m. [Chicago Breaking News]

Earlier reports that the number of Chicago Public School students killed this year stood at 26 have been altered slightly. Earlier today, CPS spokesperson Monique Bond said one student, Devour Robinson, had been killed in November and had been left off previous lists, bringing the total to 27. With the addition of Robinson, this school year's total already tops last years with three months left to go. Tuesday night, Franco Avila was shot in Albany Park, making him the latest death. The shooting is believed to be gang-related.