LOGAN SQUARE — Despite a weekend where five people were shot in Logan Square, one witness says she isn’t shaken, even after a man nearly died against her building.
The 31-year-old Logan Square homeowner didn’t want to reveal her identity for fear or retaliation but recounted hearing a string of loud bangs early Sunday morning before realizing the 15 or so shots weren’t celebratory fireworks from nearby Humboldt Park.
“There were too many to be fireworks ... then we heard screaming,” she said. She looked off her balcony to find a 29-year-old man “bleeding profusely,” in the 3000 block of West Armitage Avenue around 1:25 a.m. June 20. He seemed to be "in tremendous amounts of pain," the witness said.
Police say it was a drive-by shooting.
Several shots in #LoganSquare outside #musiclounge (again). At least 1 injured. @DNAinfoCHI @RahmEmanuel @Chicagoist pic.twitter.com/HNpewo7llO
— Kate! (@Greatkatestate) June 21, 2015Just minutes later, another man, 33, would be shot in both ankles about five blocks away, according to police. In that same 10-hour timespan, three other men would be shot in Logan Square, all within a mile of each other.
On Armitage Avenue, the witness, known on Twitter as “Kate!,” snapped a photo of the scene directly below her home and tweeted the news while her husband called the police. The image shows a man bleeding as neighbors arrive to assist him. It's the third time in the last year that gunshots have rang out within earshot of the block, she added.
Of the four Logan Square shootings over the weekend, three were in the police department’s Shakespeare District, and all were gang-related, according to district Commander Marc Buslik.
The shootings comes on the heels of a string of incidents within a half-mile stretch of Armitage Avenue in Logan Square since May 4, when a 15-year-old boy was saved by one quick-thinking police officer after the teen was shot in front of a nearby Walgreens.
Officer Edwin Pagan saved a boy's life after the teen was shot May 4 just off Armitage Ave. [DNAinfo/Darryl Holliday]
Another gang-related shooting resulted in a murder caught on tape outside of a popular neighborhood convenience store May 13.
The spate of violence has come alongside community tension that spilled over from Humboldt Park to the adjacent stretch of Armitage Avenue, Kate said, noting recent flare-ups over Riot Fest, disagreements over the Puerto Rican Fest and Parade, debates over gentrification such as the vandalism of Grandma J’s Local Kitchen and ongoing battles waged on EveryBlock.
The clashes are troubling, she said, but she hopes community dialogue can lead to understanding and peace in the neighborhood.
“I love Logan Square. It’s my favorite neighborhood in the city and I wouldn’t think about leaving for this reason,” she added. “It hurts my heart … but I can't imagine [the violence] causing me to leave.
“I just hope the conversation spurs more communication.”
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