CHICAGO — Minutes after the police superintendent announced a major push to curb surging violence Friday, a woman was shot dead and a man was injured just a block from Chicago Police headquarters, authorities said.
The shooting occurred in the 3500 block of South State Street outside a Starbucks shortly after 4 p.m., according to police.
A 49-year-old woman, who news accounts said had just gotten coffee and stepped outside the Starbucks, was shot in her chest and killed. The woman was later identified by family as Yvonne Nelson, the Tribune reported. Nelson was a dispatcher for 14 years with the city's 311 center, according to city records.
A 19-year-old man shot in his buttocks and hand ran north on State Street to tell police he had been shot. Police said the man was a gang member who was targeted in the shooting.
"Unfortunately, a female victim in her 40s was struck and killed," Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said at news conference outside the Starbucks.
She was an innocent victim, police said.
"It illustrates how people have weapons in the city of Chicago and they don't mind using them," Johnson said.
News accounts said that two police officers were in the Starbucks at the time of the shooting.
The woman died after being taken to Stroger Hospital. The man was sent to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The incident happened shortly after police announced the arrests of 140 people in a major gang crackdown. Johnson announced the arrests at a news conference at police headquarters a block away, at 3510 S. Michigan Ave.
