Details are coming in:"I went to walk my dog at 2:45 PM and I arrived just moments after the shooting on Hazel and Sunnyside. The cops seemed to arrive pretty quickly and rounded up some people to pat down. I spoke with a guy who witnessed the shooting and he said that it was a skinny black male, probably around 15-20, with corn rows or short dreads, wearing a black shirt, riding a bike down the street and shooting into the building on the corner of Sunnyside and Hazel."
We don't lack for a strong and quick police presence around here at least for the moment.
ReplyDeleteWas this today, Thursday, August 5th? It's so sad to be concerned about your safety on your daily commute.
ReplyDeleteI witnessed part of this shooting - I live near Hazel and Windsor and had just returned home and parked my car on Windsor. I was about to get out of the car when I heard shots, looked in the rear view mirror and saw the shooter continuing to fire at his target going north on Hazel toward Wilson. I heard 7 or 8 shots. The shots took place between Sunnyside and Windsor on Hazel. It is insane that this took place at 2:35 in the afternoon and the were lots of people out and about - my neighbor's 3 years old daughter was playing on the sidewalk not far from where this took place. After this occurred there were gangbangers running around, innocent bystanders ducking between cars and many people in disbelief checking on those who were in the line of fire - asking if they were okay. This is the second time in the 4 years I've lived in this neighborhood that I have been steps away from a shooting. My husband and I have been debating selling our condo for a while. I don't care anymore about the real estate market and if we'll have to take a loss if we sell - we want to get the hell out of here. This is utter insanity.
ReplyDeleteNot to be critical, but that describes just about every young banger around. Tempted to stand out on that corner and start talking about uncomfortable subjects. Everyone feels comfortable when handed religious fliers, discussing Jesus or perhaps spraying them with cologne as if entering an upscale department store since we are all so wealthy.
ReplyDeleteThis is the fourth or fifth shoooting in this exact area in a month and a half period. Not one major news outlet covering. I understand it's not as many shootings as say, on the south side, but when you look at the shootings versus square feet, statistically speaking it probably outranks shootings per area.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this is related, but two cop cars stopped at the corner of Winona and Kenmore and stopped two teenagers on bikes and yelled at them to get on the ground. They pat them down and then let them go. I keep seeing the same two cop cars driving by, seems like they're looking for somebody.
ReplyDeletesounds like that building needs to seriously evict some residents.
ReplyDeleteAmy - Sad to see you go but totally understandable. When to "give up the fight" is going to be an individual decision, but at some point you have to put your safety above hope that tomorrow's new leadership in 46, and now 48, is going to help guide all of us out of the darkness.
ReplyDeleteCLEARLY - Sunnyside and Hazel is a "HOT SPOT" this summer.
Just saw a squad car drive bye at high speed, lights, and sirens going. Hopefully they were on their way to pick one of these dudes up.
ReplyDeleteNice report, guys. The cops in the hood are doing the best they can. I linked up to you in my post about a second shooting today, at 6 pm, in which some fool shot hizself in da hand near Target. http://rogersparkbench.blogspot.com/2010/08/idiot-shoots-self-in-hand-at-broadway.html
ReplyDeleteMeg: Many of these buildings have people who should be evicted. I don't think the landlords give two craps about who lives there as long as they get paid.
ReplyDeleteDown and Out in Uptown: You're right. It's hard to catch the people doing these things unless they are caught during the act.
Tiffany: That may be related. From the people I spoke with, they seemed to think that the shooter was headed towards Wilson and Broadway.
I'm getting tired of this. I know it's too much to ask for constant police patrol, but it's getting to the point where we need it. There have been about 4-5 shootings in this area; most of them have taken place in broad daylight or when people may be out on the street. As far as I know, it wasn't like this at all last summer. I'm not ready to leave just yet. I'm hoping that all of the decent residents of Uptown can ban together to make sure that this type of violence goes away. I'm also putting a LOT of faith into the next alderman. Whoever it is, I hope their number one issue is how to stop violence. This area could be so great if we all work together.
sounds like a fine young man....a real pillar of the community....
ReplyDeleteThere ARE more of us than them. CAPS attendance should be at alltime high next month. Let's make it happen.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the guy who shot himself in the hand at Broadway and Sunnyside was looking for a target?
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, my part of Uptown is getting a little too gun-active lately, this is 2 today and at least 3 in the past week. Thursdays seem to be a popular shooting day apparently.
I hope you all will come to our CAPS meeting, it's this coming Wednesday and we could use the support. Ours is always under attended and with how badly things are picking up around here, we need the police to know people care.
In good news, the police are everywhere right now. They're really watching out for the families in the area. We stopped by and told some of them thanks. :D
3 apartment buildings and a church at that corner.
ReplyDeleteIs there low income scattered site by there?
Hazel leads up to some of the fanciest old mansions south of montrose.
This is total B.S.
Something needs to be done.
Its like they are created an artificial ghetto wholecloth out of nothing.
This needs to be stamped out. Pronto.
I know the area well as I have a few friends that own their condo`s close by. The owners of those few problem buildings should get rid of a lot of the scum they rent to but Section 8 pays the rent on time. One of them on the corner at Hazel & Sunnyside has been and still has a few drug dealers with lots of people all the time coming and going day and night. I am sure the Cops know about it but I wish they could do something to clean the scum out with a good raid.
ReplyDeleteSad to say, but this seems to be the REAL legacy of the 46th Ward.
ReplyDeleteRampant crime, sans any real comment or reaction...
I'm grateful to Uptown Update, for shining such a bright light on the failings, I've seen for nearly 20 years up here. I'm also grateful for the police, that do a great job against all odds.
On another note, it is SO ironic, that the 46th Ward website is suddenly filled with highlights from her 'media-tour'.
I know we have to focus on the future, but when we're faced with all this 'image building', it makes me ponder.
drug and gang housing. push the landlords. they don't need to be late in rent to be evicted. there's a link on the side of UU's page.
ReplyDeleteMeg: These landlords don't live in their buildings. What do they care? Honestly, anyone who thinks that these businesses and landlords care about the drug/gang problems and are willing to do something about it, is crazy in thinking so. Why would landlords push people out that pay on time, every time. The land lords don't have any investment other than making their money. They could care less whether it's an upstanding household or a drug house. It's all about the cash. And let's be really honest, these landlords don't give a sh*t because they won't be the ones going to jail. Change that attitude, and you'll change the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they have to care in order for the city to investigate their tenants and kick them out. WE have to care.
ReplyDeleteMeg is on the right track with contacting the building owners.
ReplyDeleteThere are responsible building owners; and there are building owners who we have to hold responsible. They don't want to lose their subsidies.
Find out who manages and owns a building that harbors gang and drug activity.
Call them, and WRITE LETTERS that document the problem tenants, go to CAPS and fill out the GANG & DRUG form. Call 911 and give the exact address, that's how they track 911 calls.
Keep up the pressure, get your neighbors involved. We've removed three of the worst drug/gang members from our neighborhood and now we're working to remove the biggest gang leader.
One tenant, one building, one block at a time, things are changing.
"I wonder if the guy who shot himself in the hand at Broadway and Sunnyside was looking for a target?"
ReplyDeleteHe SHOULD have been looking for an NRA safety course. Folks, if you choose to have a firearm, (and I know some of you do), PLEASE follow a few simple rules:
1)Treat all firearms as if they are loaded at all times.
2)Never allow the muzzle to point at anything that you do not wish to destroy. Ever.
3)Never insert the finger into the trigger guard or place the finger on the trigger unless the decision has been made to shoot.
4) Be sure of your back stop.
5) Follow rule #1 AND #2 at ALL TIMES, even if you have checked and double checked that the weapon is unloaded.
The ambulance went to 4343 Clarendon for the Clown with the wounded hand. I do not know if he lives in that area or not. Considering the high rent in that building, I doubt he lives there.
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ReplyDeletemy family owns an apartment building in rogers park.
ReplyDeleteThe building next to us had decent owners but their front steps werent fenced in and so gangs loitered there.
We called the cops incessantly and the owners put up no loitering signs.
But finally after homeless were there after talking to the landlords so many times.
They put fencing up in front.
Never give up.
Never.
My block in rogers park is doing much better. Its not perfect.
But its better. Its just off of morse and its on wayne.
I have called the cops so much that they got pissed at me. But I dont care. After there was a driveby shooting earlier this year I had a zero tolerance policy.
If I lived at that intersection I would call every single time there was any loitering. And I would hound the landlords every single day.
The landlords want paying customers but they also hate being hounded
So Meg, how do we get the vice lords out of these buildings on Hazel and Windsor and Hazel and Sunnyside? I would love to know, I am so very tired of the gun violence and fighting the occurs all the time on this stretch. So how do we get them kicked out of the buildings? I'll do whatever it takes.
ReplyDeletecall the landlords
ReplyDeleteor the management company or whatever every time you see a problem. have them in your phone as a specific entry and call all the time for problems.
it will drive them nuts and they will have to do something
Meg...I am on your side...There are ways to get these people to comply... I have stated time and again on this blog examples of neighborhoods that did something proactive. We would rather complain and follow the same patterns that do not work...We need to be inventive and perhaps demonstrate landmark ideas to progress this neighborhood in the right direction. Change can be frightening. Bringing up the past achieves little. Helen is soon to be a part of the past. We need to leave her behind The more attention she gets on this blog has the opposite effect. I've been to plenty of CAPS meetings and was there to chase Helen from her Olympics meeting. I've listened to Denise so much I know she is from Youngstown, Ohio. The kind of change needed here has to be unique and out of the box.
ReplyDeleteAndrew..Google neighborhood nuisance small claims court...
ReplyDeleteMeg's quite right. I'm surprised and dismayed to see people resisting her suggestion.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of ways to skin a cat. If a landlord doesn't know or care what's going on, we have to make it an issue for them.
Call 'em. Fill out a bad building form on them. Ask the officers at the next CAPS meeting what they know about the landlord (you'd be surprised) and if they have particular suggestions about how neighbors can get their attention.
And in the longer view, of course, vote for an aldermanic candidate who has a zero tolerance policy for absentee, irresponsible landlords and the ambition to chase these bozos down.
I have been reading comments on UU for a period of time now, and decided I have to say something about the ignorance of some of the people that leave comments on her. First let me say I used to be a resident in the uptown area I no longer reside there but I do still work there,and it deeply saddens me to see that majority of the comments are merely biased and sterotypical, to blame this violence on the residents of the low income properties and sec 8 housing is really to be honest a far fetch. MAJORITY OF THOSE THAT ARE COMMITTING THESE ACTS DON'T EVEN LIVE IN UPTOWN AREA...!!!!! More needs to be done than marches, vigils. Get to know your neighbor and not just those that live in condos, get to know your neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteUsetobemytown - I know my neighbors, and NOT just those who live in condos. The good neighbors in Section 8 housing want the bad ones out too. The "bad folks" from outside the hood are obviously coming up to see someone, right?? If its not gang bangers residing in Section 8 then its the drug users. And if we talk about getting them out of Uptown all hell breaks loose in these comment boards.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a class war...It is a gang war and a crime war. The upper level drug and gang members certainly are not the poor people. I agree with Meg...I know my neighborhood, I know the cast of characters both good and bad. I walk my dog and talk to people on the street. Ignorance is not a word I would use to describe the people posting here. Again, everytime someone uses the class war as ammunition, they sound just like Helen. I was under the impression she was what we were not trying to be
ReplyDelete