Chicago Independence Day Body Count (So Far): 8 Dead, 30 Wounded
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 5, 2013 2:25PM
The Independence Day holiday started Wednesday and already Chicago is well on its way to one of its bloodiest periods of 2013.The Tribune reports eight men have been killed and another 30 wounded since Wednesday evening (the Sun-Times’ numbers are six dead and 28 wounded as of post time). Those numbers are nearly equal to last year’s Fourth of July gun violence totals, where five were killed and another 37 wounded during the same time period.
Among the wounded are two young boys, ages 5 and 7, who were shot at separate incidents in Chicago parks. The 5-year-old was wounded in a shooting in West Pullman on the Far South side, while the 7-year-old was wounded in a shooting in a Chatham park. The 7-year-old was shot in the head in Cole Park around 7:25 p.m., was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, and is expected to survive. The boy’s nephew, Emanuel Lyles, said he’s expected to survive but decried the wanton violence.
“I think [the city’s shootings are] like a curse, because they never get the right person,” Lyles said.
The 5-year-old, identified as Jaden Donald, was shot at Cooper Park, 11712 S. Ada St., around 12:40 a.m. Jaden’s mother, Jasmine Donald, said the family hadn’t been in the park 15 minutes before shots rang out and she noticed her son bleeding. When she went to check on Jaden she noticed a gaping wound. Jaden was also taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and is on a ventilator to breathe. Jasmine Donald also called for an end to the senseless violence. “This makes me want to go back in the house with my kids and never go out. Why would you do something like this? Why? All these kids and innocent people out here, why?" (We will note, based on the time of the shooting, that Jasmine Donald brought her son to a park well past the Park District’s 11 p.m. curfew.)
Other shootings across the city wounded a 14-year-old boy in West Woodlawn; a 28-year-old man who suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen and chest who drove himself to St. Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center (he was transferred to Stroger Hospital in critical condition); a 21-year-old who was shot in the buttocks and fled the hospital after not cooperating with police; a cab driver who was shot in the stomach during a robbery; and a 17-year-old who was shot in the abdomen near 103rd Street and Michigan Avenue.