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As Gunshots Become More Common In Edgewater Glen, Alderman Vows Vigilance

By  Josh McGhee and Linze Rice | September 16, 2016 8:44am 

 Police spoke with residents at a community meeting Thursday night after a recent rash of crime incidents in the Edgewater Glen area.
Police spoke with residents at a community meeting Thursday night after a recent rash of crime incidents in the Edgewater Glen area.
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DNAinfo/Linze Rice

EDGEWATER — Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) held a community meeting Thursday night in part to discuss a rash of crime in Edgewater Glen he called "very concerning" after a "pretty positive" summer.

"We have done a really good job" reporting crime, Osterman said at the meeting at the Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway.

But "the last two weeks are good examples of how violence can spark in a heartbeat. It's not something I take lightly. I have three kids and a wife. We need to be very vigilent."

Over the past decade, crime in the neighborhood (specifically homicide, motor vehicle theft, assault, battery, robbery and burglary) has decreased by 54.47 percent, according to a DNAinfo analysis of city crime data.

That downward trend has stalled since 2015, however, with Edgewater seeing just over a 10 percent spike in those crimes in the first eight months of this year.

The recent uptick in crime occurred in beat 2433, which is traditionally a very quiet area, said Sgt. Shawn Sisk.

"It's one of the only areas in the 24th District that is residential with [predominantly] single family homes," Sisk said.

Since Sept. 1, there have been 17 calls of shots fired in the area pertaining to four incidents, Sisk said.

On Sept. 3, eight calls of shots fired stemmed from a shooting near Glenwood Avenue and West Norwood Street. There were no injuries in the shooting, Sisk said.

About three hours after the incident, a BB gun was found near the corner. About 15 minutes after the BB gun was found, officers stopped "four individuals not from the area" for violating curfew, Sisk said.

Three of the individuals were arrested for being in possession of a lot of credit cards and IDs that did not belong to them, he said, adding officers had "no idea if they had anything to do with that shooting."

The shooting is still under investigation, he said.

Around 11 p.m. on Sept. 5, police received more calls of shots fired and bullet casings were recovered near the intersection of Clark Street and Ridge and Peterson Avenues. Residents said the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident on Peterson, where gun shots were exchanged from two cars, Sisk said.

No injuries were reported in the incident, but bullet holes were left in vacant storefronts along Clark Street.

Around 5:15 a.m. on Sept. 10, shots were fired near North Lakewood Avenue and West Hood Avenue and shell casings were recovered. After finding a wallet in walking distance of the shooting, officers believed it was a possible robbery, but the man moved from the address on the ID and could not be contacted, Sisk said.

Around 10:15 p.m. on Monday, a Loyola student was robbed in the vestibule of his building in the 1300 block of West Hood Avenue. Three men followed him into his building, implied they had a gun and took the man's iPhone, iPad, iPod, kindle and textbooks, Sisk said.

The incident is still under investigation and no one is in custody for the incident.

Another Loyola student was assaulted recently, this time in the 6300 block of North Winthrop Avenue. 

In that case, the student was "groped" from behind by a man on a bike before breaking free and calling for help, police said. 

It's not been the only incident involving lone women being grabbed from behind in the area recently, police said. 

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