BRIDGEPORT — Feuding gangs are behind a series of shootings in the neighborhood, but local police officials said resources are being shifted to address the issue.
There have been five shootings in Bridgeport since August, resulting in one man being killed and four others wounded, according to crime statistics kept by DNAinfo. Some of those incidents stemmed from a conflict involving two local gangs, officials said at a neighborhood CAPS meeting Tuesday.
In one case, a man who was shot recently in the neighborhood is believed to be responsible for a shooting days later and blocks away, police said at a CAPS meeting Tuesday.
"We do understand there's a gang war going on," Officer Jim McAndrew, Deering District CAPS officer, said at a Tuesday CAPS meeting. "The commander is aware of it."
In response, a police bike team will be dispatched to the police beat covering the area west of Halsted and north of 35th that has seen the recent shootings, McAndrew said. A tactical team will also be reassigned to the beat, and an officer at the station will be assigned to monitor cameras and other crime-fighting technology in the area.
Residents of the beat have logged 72 calls of shots fired since Sept. 12 alone, a number that is above normal for the area, McAndrew said. Police said the shootings are targeted, however.
In the shooting that happened at nearly 4 a.m. Oct 1, someone in a black SUV fired into a car driving in the 3100 block of South Aberdeen Street, police said. Police found at the scene six 9mm casings and a radio equipped to pick up police scanner channels, McAndrew said.
A 30-year-old man was shot twice and took himself to Mercy Hospital, but was not interested in cooperating with police, McAndrew said.
"He wouldn't have anything to do with police," he said.
On Monday, a 20-year-old man was shot on Morgan Street, and police believe the victim of the Aberdeen Street attack was involved in Monday's attack, police said. A black SUV was seen at both shootings, police said.
The fatal shooting has not been described as gang-related, but the 28-year-old victim knew his attacker, McAndrew said.
In that incident, a 28-year-old man got a phone call and told his wife he was stepping outside. His wife then heard a struggle before shots were fired, and later saw the young father lying on the ground, McAndrew said.
"There were signs of a struggle," he said. "This wasn't a random shooting."
