ROGERS PARK — After two shootings at her apartment complex in August, Angela Labate said she is considering a move.
"I need to find a new apartment," Labate said Monday morning. "It's getting to be a little hairy here."
Labate lives two doors down from a first-floor unit in the 7400 block of North Ridge Avenue in front of which two men, both 29, were shot Sunday night. The shooting occurred hours after two people were hit by stray bullets near the Morse Red Line station, a five-minute drive away.
On Monday, Labate was among several residents and business owners near both scenes who voiced concern about safety in Rogers Park, a place that many said they valued for its diversity and sense of security.
Labate was out working much like she had been on Aug. 10, when she came home to a shooting scene that cordoned off her parking spot behind the building.
Roselynn Zittnan, who lives on the third-floor, heard the shots in both incidents.
"I thought it was the television. It was so loud I thought it was in my place," Zittnan said about the recent shooting. "I just stayed inside. It's scary because I need to go out to walk my dog."
The two men, both 29, shot Sunday night were standing in a group when they were approached by two men on foot about 8:45 p.m., police said.
One of the men who walked up fired into the group. Both men ran off, though it's unclear how they got away. One of the men who was shot died at St. Francis Hospital.
The two August shootings at the apartment building are being treated as separate incidents, police said. The 20-year-old man wounded in the Aug. 10 shooting was gang-affiliated. The two men shot Sunday night had no known gang ties.
Earlier Sunday, a separate shooting rattled Rogers Park residents near the Morse Red Line station.
"This kind of violence hasn't happened in our neighborhood until now," said Jack Baqleh, who has run Golden Mini Mart at 1339 W. Morse Avenue for nearly 20 years.
A man and woman were walking in the 1300 block of West Morse Avenue about 5:15 p.m. when they heard gunfire and realized they were shot, police said.
Ald. Joe Moore (49th) said Monday that one of the victims has already been released from the hospital and the other would be released Monday evening.
Sunday's incident follows multiple shootings earlier this year on Morse on the other side of the "L" tracks.
Some residents noted that the recent violence is cause for concern, but also said Rogers Park had much to be proud of.
"I was drawn to this part of town because of the mix of colors," said Lisa Partter, who moved to Rogers Park from Georgia two years ago. "No matter where you walk, no matter what neighborhood you're in, no matter what point in your life you are in, bad things have happene, and bad things will happen."
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