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No Arrests After Pair Of New Year's Day Shootings In 19th Ward

By Howard Ludwig | January 4, 2017 1:19pm
 Four people were shot after gunfire broke out at two separate house parties in Beverly and Morgan Park early Sunday morning, according to the Chicago Police Department.
Four people were shot after gunfire broke out at two separate house parties in Beverly and Morgan Park early Sunday morning, according to the Chicago Police Department.
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BEVERLY — Gunshots rang out at a pair of house parties in the 19th Ward early Sunday morning, leaving four people shot, according to the Chicago Police Department.

No arrests had been made in either incident, Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police spokesman, said Wednesday.

The first shooting occurred at 2:15 a.m. in the 9500 block of South Hamilton Avenue in Beverly, according to a police report.

In that incident, a 29-year-old woman was grazed by a bullet on her left leg. She was standing on the sidewalk with friends when shots were fired by unknown individuals in the street. The shooting victim was treated by an emergency personnel on the scene and refused further medical attention, police said.

The second shooting occurred at 3:46 a.m. in the 11200 block of South Longwood Drive in Morgan Park, according to a police report.

In that incident, a 19-year-old man was found shot in the lower right side of his back and taken to Advocate Christ Hospital in suburban Oak Lawn, police said. The man's condition wasn't released, but he was listed as "stable," police said.

Meanwhile, two additional men were found with gunshot wounds at the intersection of  Monterrey and Vincennes avenues — near Morgan Park High School, police said.

A 21-year-old man was shot in the throat and was transferred to Christ Hospital in critical condition. A 20-year-old male was shot in the left shoulder and taken to the same hospital. The 20-year-old's condition wasn't released, but he was listed as "stable," police said.

Both victims told officers that they were at the party on Longwood Drive when they were shot, police said. Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) said none of the New Year's Day gunshot victims were residents of the ward.

"Moving forward, all 19th Ward residents are encouraged to contact the police if they see any suspicious activities or if your block experiences any unruly parties or gatherings," O'Shea wrote in an email to constituents on Sunday evening.

Area South Detectives are continuing to investigate both shootings, police said..

Margot Burke Holland, executive director of the Beverly Area Planning Association, was upset when speaking about both incidents. She lives nearby the shooting in Beverly and her office is on the same block as the shooting in Morgan Park.

"Something needs to be done, and I can't believe that more people aren't outraged," Holland said Wednesday.

She said the two shootings in the 19th Ward point to a larger problem throughout the city, where such incidents have skyrocketed. In fact, 746 people were murdered in Chicago last year.

Holland said that most of those murders and shootings occurred in neighborhoods were such acts have become commonplace. But the area served by her association is not used to these sorts of incidents.

And should such violence continue, those who are not obligated to stay within the city limits because of their employment will opt to leave — driving down property values and the quality of life.

She believes a solution is out there somewhere and that it's not fair to lay all of the city's problems with violence at the doorstep of the police department.

"I don't know what the answer is, but I know there's enough smart people in this city and state to figure something out," Holland said. "The whole thing is appalling."

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