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April 21, 2008

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32 civilians shot over weekend in Chicago


By Rummana Hussain and Lisa Donovan
The Chicago Sun-Times

CHICAGO — In gang-related drive-bys, an attempted robbery and other flashes of violence, some 32 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend — six of them fatally.

A 26-year-old was killed in his home, two teens on the same South Side street, another man as he sat in the office of his plumbing business.

Chicago Police officials acknowledged that the nearly three dozen shootings were high for a short time frame but not unusual when the mercury starts rising.

"Although our recent crime data released on Friday showed that murders and shootings are slightly down, as you all know, one shooting, one murder is one too many," Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said Sunday.

"We know that warmer temperatures are a contributing factor. More outdoor activity [means] more opportunities for crimes to occur. ... No city is immune from the proliferation of illegal guns, gangs and drugs."

The Sun-Times recorded at least 32 shootings from noon Friday to early Sunday evening. But Weis said police record their data in 24-hour cycles, noting that the shootings must be further examined to weed out the self-inflicted injuries or accidental gun discharges.

There were 22 shootings between midnight Friday and midnight Saturday, and four more between midnight and 7 a.m. Sunday, Weis said. Four of the 26 shootings were fatal, and at least three were not gang-related. Seven victims were juveniles, and of those shootings, five were after curfew, he said.

Last year, during the same 24-hour period in April, there were 19 shootings. In 2006, there were 21, Weis said, adding that there were an average of 20 to 22 shootings on recent July weekends.

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For the first three months of 2008, murders fell 1.1 percent and aggravated batteries decreased 0.8 percent, when compared with the first three months of 2007. Overall, crime was up 1.9 percent this year, according to crime statistics released last week.

As violence surged Friday, Weis said commanders redeployed gang and tactical teams, targeted response units in critical districts.

First Deputy Supt. James Jackson also said the department's violence reduction strategy is in place, including more bicycle and foot patrols in high-crime areas and gang investigations. "We will definitely be targeting the leaders," James said.

The assurances weren't enough for Regina Bolling.

Bolling attended to 34-year-old Marcus Hendricks as he lay gasping for air after a gunman — a plumber, according to court records — allegedly shot him in the abdomen with an AK-47 as he sat in his South Side office Friday.

"It was just really emotional. He looked like a man in shock. ... His eyes were really wide," Bolling said.

Bolling was getting her hair done next door when she heard the boom and saw the alleged gunman, Bennie Teague, run out of the office, at 714 W. 115th Pl. Teague, whom Hendricks allegedly hired last summer, was ordered held without bail Sunday in connection with the murder and shooting at three police officers later that evening.

"There's way too much violence," said Bolling, 41. "I think the police should pay more attention than do the other stupid things that they do."

Hendricks' older sister, Cynthia Flowers, disagreed. She credited Weis with "doing the best" he can and said she was "proud" of police for apprehending Teague so quickly.

"I just hope people are outraged by the numbers and that thinking people become fed up with non-thinking people who are terrorizing us. It's sickening to me that people are out there with assault weapons out on the street," Flowers said.

Copyright 2008 The Chicago Sun-Times

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