From the Chicago Tribune: A man was shot and killed Monday night at a gas station in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Chicago's Far North Side, police said.
Initial reports indicated the man, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as Brandon Arnold, 26, of the 4600 block of North Kenmore Avenue, was filling his vehicle with gas at around 6:30 p.m. at a Citgo station at Sheridan Road and Touhy Avenue when an unidentified gunman opened fire and fled.
Police said the assailant possibly was in a maroon or red van.
Arnold was taken in critical condition to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
Police said the motive for the shooting was possibly gang-related, but they could not provide specifics. No one was in custody Tuesday morning.
Another day, another murder... I asked block club president, David J. Farina, of the Argyle/Winmore block club if he attended the rally. His answer in the yahoo group for the block club was a prompt "No.". When I questioned why a block club president might not attend such an event, I was told that I was not going to be given a reason and I was IMMEDIATELY banned from the yahoo group for the Argyle/Winmore Block Club for asking that question. Apparently the Argyle/Winmore Block Club doesn't welcome free inquiry when it comes to questioning their president. Is the safety of our citizens not important to this block club???
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about this man's murder at a gas station in the early evening. I can't even imagine how scary that must have been for evening commuters (some undoubtedly with children) to see.
ReplyDeletePeople should read up on news happening in Roger's Park through the News-Star and the local blogs. (They are the bloggiest neighborhood in Chicago!) For example, residents in a rental on Lunt Avenue woke up one morning to find that 3 floors of their building had been rented to Heartland Alliance for a non-supervised drug "rehab" program without their knowledge. Local residents believe that this program should have had to go through the standard notification procedure and had a hearing at the ZBA.
Uptown and Roger's Park have a lot in common.
wow. that's shocking. he felt strongly enough about the neighborhood to want someone's neon sign changed!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.uptownupdate.com/2007/05/should-this-sign-be-allowed.html
maybe something else is going on?
someone on the broken heart says that there is a playground across the street.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:40 - David Farina does a GREAT job as a block club president. Many people didn't come to the rally because they didn't like the "anti-Shiller" tone it was taking on.
ReplyDeleteLesson learned. Perhaps we can do another rally at a "neutral" location? It was a great rally and a great start. We'll get better as this continues.
"possibly gang-related"
ReplyDeleteThe police told me a sure fire way to tell if the shooting was gang related, if the news paper photo of the victim is a graduation picture (ie Middle School) then the most likely it was gang related.
The reason is this is the only picture the family has where the kid isn't holding up gang signs or posing.
Ok. Back to the news topic...An Uptown resident was shot at 6:30 p.m. in Rogers Park from three bullets. Gun violence is killing people. Stop. Killing. People.
ReplyDeleteWas the man killed the "Brandon" who posts here often?
ReplyDeleteHe was my neighbor, just a block away.
Scary as HELL.
BTW, Shiller lives in that neighborhood in Andersonville...oh, I am sorry..the small slice of gerrymandered Uptown... the Argyle/Winmore area that is...
ReplyDeletevery interesting!!! I'd like to find out which block clubs support us and which don't.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I understand your anger, it is probably not fair to say "which block clubs support 'us'. I think most---if not all---of the block clubs are interested in reducing crime and are working towards that end. Block clubs in Uptown are not the problem. I can respect that someone chose not to go to the rally (even if they share the same feelings about the rise in crime that I do). The being banned from the yahoo group, on the other hand, seems wrong.
ReplyDeleteMany people didn't come to the rally because they didn't like the "anti-Shiller" tone it was taking on.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of them. I didn't want to wind up in the middle of an anti-Shiller rally on Saturday, and from the comments on this blog (and the location chosed for the rally), I wasn't convinced it wouldn't turn into that.
Many people didn't come to the rally because they didn't like the "anti-Shiller" tone it was taking on.
ReplyDelete-I'm another one
Well, Kenny. It wasn't. It was peaceful and appropriate. Lots of people came out and met their neighbors and took a very simple stand that VIOLENCE is UNACCEPTABLE for ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE!
ReplyDeleteAn Uptown resident shot at the GAS PUMP? We can't remain silent.
its good to know that if we pick another location in Uptown for another rally that the crowd will be even bigger.
ReplyDeletebeing banned from the forum like that does seem wrong to me as well.
ReplyDeleteWe really need the block clubs to show support for the campaign against violence in Uptown.
ReplyDeleteI think being banned from an open forum because you have a dissenting opinion is pure Shiller tactics. If she is in their neighborhood, that would not shock me. And I think it is important to know who is and is not for protesting violence in Uptown.
ReplyDelete..the location was chosen because Shiller has refused to comment on the violence that has been rampant here in Uptown. If she refuses to come to CAPS meetings, block club meetings, etc. then it is more than appropriate to go to her office.
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked, my taxes are paying her salary, and the salary of those that work there. I cannot think of a more appropriate venue. She was invited to speak at the rally and it would have been an extremely positive gesture on her part if she had chosen to take part.
Instead, she chose to ignore those citizens that care about murders in Uptown. I find that cowardly on Shillers part.
I am also disappointed in those that did not attend or express unease with the rally. It was a great and peaceful rally. Not a personal attack on Helen at all. People were/are merely crying out for help. Is that wrong? Where would others suggest that the rally have been held?? Many blocks from the scene of the crime?? Does not make sense to me. If anyone would like to call me, I would be glad to discuss.
ReplyDeleteRobert Davis,
Unique So Chique
An Uptown resident was shot three times while standing at a gas pump. The shots took his life and could have easily caused death or injury to others at the gas station at the time.
ReplyDeleteGun violence and gas stations don't mix. Gun violence and people don't mix. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS! If you can't get behind this simple idea and become willing to DO SOMETHING about it then there is something very wrong with you. Stop. Killing. People.
4600 block of N Kenmore...that's my block...does anyone know where he lived on the block?
ReplyDeleteOk, Darwin. But you can't get one without the other. Gun Violence is Bad for Our Communities. PERIOD.
ReplyDeleteI didn't and don't like the anti-Shiller tone. Haven't cared for it ever. Implied in such a singular focus is the idea that once Helen is ousted, everything’s going to be all right.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not.
Does this mean I'm a "Shillerista?” Does this make me an enabler, a troll or worthy of scorn? Apparently, in the binary world of anonymous blogging, the answer is “yes.”
The issues debated on this blog are complex, interrelated and much larger than Helen and they are only going to become more difficult to manage as the economy softens and our community cracks under the stress of ongoing credit crises and too little employment.
Clearly, Alderman Shiller is not the Alderman you want. I get it. She’s not easy and she lacks the process habits we’d like in an Alderman. No doubt. But by focusing so intensely on what you don’t want, you are passing up an opportunity to define and model what you do want.
Oh, and this business about a "sure fire way" to tell whether or not someone is in a gang? The ironic phrasing aside, there’s nothing “sure fire” about identifying a gang member. If there was, we wouldn’t have been so wrong about the two young men who were shot last month. The police are no more immune to generalizations than we are.
Families offer up school photos for a lot of reasons. Police ask for them specifically because no matter one’s income, most families have at least one on hand. In fact, the school photo usually takes pride of place on the fridge.
Well said Suzanne.
ReplyDeleteSounds like another gang shooting to me. Let them all kill each other.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne, there was no anti-Shiller tone at the rally. I almost considered not going myself but I had faith that in the end people would conduct themselves with decorum and the did. At heart, people want to see safer streets for all. It is that simple and somehow...somewhere it is time to take a stand.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, we've agreed about a lot of things on this blog. Mostly that things are complex. I try over and over to try to engender conversation because I think some people need to open their eyes to the complexity. But take a look at the trolling that happened after your post! So many of us are extending our hands in good faith. We do it over and over again and this is what we get in return. The stupid trolling is just a virtual form of the real dirty tricks that decent people are subject to around here when they dare voice an opinion that isn't praise.
It is so despicable that one can't respond to a poster since the rally because most likely the person saying the objectionable comment is a troll. Disrupt. Deflect. Disrupt. Have you ever witnesses that pattern before? God forbid we should talk about innocent people getting slain in our streets...no matter how that happens.
My suggestion to those that do not like the tone or tenor of the conversations on this blog.....
ReplyDeleteCreate your own! It is beautiful that we live in a free society and can say whatever we wish. If you truly find the fact that Shiller is in fact, the base of most of the problems in the ward, then simply produce a pro-Shiller blog.
It really is that easy of a solution.. \
=) Have a nice day now!
saskia...if there was no anti-Shiller tone, why did her staff feel the need to armed with a baseball bat to defend themselves from you people?
ReplyDelete11:23 Why did Shiller feel the need to intimidate her freeking taxpaying constituents that were out their with their babies in strollers? Why did her staff tell a petite middle age woman who went into her office..by herself... to get out?
ReplyDeleteReally, quit being a Shiller apologist. No one wants violence. I guess you are a bit clueless. That was the WHOLE POINT of the rally...
It was an ANTI-VIOLENCE Rally. We did not bring the baseball bats to it, SHILLER DID!
Thanks for the chuckle, 11:23. That is a really good question that I can't begin to answer. I think you should ask the people who decided to bring baseball bats. I did notice that they didn't walk out the door with one. They simply locked up the door and left because they saw that it was a peaceful rally. Thus, the "it was lame" comments that came soon thereafter. Of course it was "lame." People with dogs, strollers, balloons, handmade signs. What did anyone expect from people feeling a need to say "SAFE STREETS FOR ALL!"
ReplyDeleteHow do we bring peace and safety to Uptown? I have pondered that question for a long time.
ReplyDeleteNo one person will restore tranquility here. How did Uptown become so entrenched with gangs? And how do we clean up this gang culture the permeates our streets?
It's interesting that 4 Uptown block clubs are becoming very active, Truman Square Neighbors, thanks to Julie S. is very active.
Lakeside Neighbors is a long established block club and Ron C. recently took the president's helm.
Clarendon Park Neighbors has been plagued with the most violence and their president John W. is working on neighborhood watch groups.
The Vice Lords call this neighborhood their turf.
Graceland Wilson Neighbors, GWNA, is hosting an event this evening at Nick's on Wilson. Max R. is the interim president and they're looking for concerned neighbors to join the board. This neighborhood is turf for the Black P-Stone rangers who hang out at the Sunnyside Mall, corner of Magnolia and Sunnyside.
Each of these block clubs is ramping up its efforts for peace and safety. Join your block club, get involved. Never doubt that old Margaret Mead quote...
Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, that's all that ever has.
To 11:23. Maybe they brought bats because thats all Shiller knows: violence. She wouldn't know "safe" if it came up and punched her in the face. Or maybe that's what she thinks "safe" is.
ReplyDeleteAlthperson says
ReplyDeleteI don't think most of the murders are gang related..
People with guns often simply like to shoot other people at random.
It's amazing how LITTLE INFORMATION is available when someone who lives within a block of you is shot and killed...it ought to be made public in detail so we understand what is going on and in that way you can better protect yourself.
There are many murders of so called "street people" that go unreported.
The police do not like paperwork...they simplify a lot of things.
And of course the police will tell you nothing.
They are not freindly...
from Second City Cop:
ReplyDeleteMedia Blackout?
Evidently there's an e-mail floating around from Monique that says all Watch Commanders are to direct media inquires to her office rather than commenting either on the phone or on the scene of
major incidents. A couple of recipients of said letter have contacted us and openly wondered why this policy change is afoot.
Do we really have to wonder? A commentator claimed there were fifty shooting incidents this weekend and the violence rate continues to climb. Rumbles of an underground effort to respond only to radio calls are rattling City Hall and 35th Street. Guns down, homicides up, revenue initiatives failing. Did everyone hear that CTA supervisors are being given ticket books to write parkers in Bus Stops? It's true.
Something is happening. A whole bunch of somethings by the looks of it. Monique's letter is merely another symptom.
Saskia. I appreciate your post. I’m glad to hear the real-time rally had a positive tone. The on-line version wasn’t reading as well.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t mean to finger just the rally for being anti-Shiller though. Rather, I was speaking more generally. Sample just about any thread on this blog (and others) and the rhetoric abounds.
As for the comment after my post, well, that’s not quite trolling grade, at least not to me.
The person who wrote, anonymously of course, “Sounds like another gang shooting to me. Let them all kill each other,” is just stupid. Trolls, at least effective ones, are at least a little seductive, a little clever.
You wrote, “God forbid we should talk about innocent people getting slain in our streets . . .” Exactly right, Saskia.
People are being shot and whether we think the victims are “innocent” or “gangbangers” doesn’t really matter if we what we care about is making our community and the city safer.
If not for ideological reasons, than for this: Kids have lousy aim. They’re carrying weapons as a badge, as a status symbol. They’re not marksmen. That means all of us are at risk, even when they’re aiming for a gang member.
The young man who survived last month’s shooting is paralyzed. He’s not a gangbanger. He’s a young father, a working person, a guy who had the shitty misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His mother has endured now not just the heartbreak of her son’s injury and subsequent disability but of the newspapers calling her good boy a gangbanger.
I’m ashamed.
"It is beautiful that we live in a free society and can say whatever we wish."
ReplyDeletenot in the Argyle/Winmore Block Club - apparently
re: "Perhaps we can do another rally at a "neutral" location? "
ReplyDeleteThe rally was held there in part because it was ACROSS THE STREET from where the student was shot. Hold it elsewhere so as not to hurt Alderfailures feelings? I think part of her alder salery entails her having a small amount of backbone.
I propose that we set up target practice ranges so gangbangers can become better marksmen...thereby reducing accidental shootings of unintended victims and maximizing single shot homicides for intended victims.
ReplyDeleteI happen to agree that block clubs are very important to this issue - I can imagine why some of them are so passive!
ReplyDeleteCAN'T - sorry
ReplyDeleteHi, Suzanne. I didn't know that the man was paralyzed. I am really sorry to hear that. What a hardship for his family too.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. The on-line version wasn't reading well, but again, I had faith that the real life one would be positive. It was and that is why people are so upset with the abuse that they have been subject to online since then.
As for trolls, there were two posts after your message. I forget what the other one said. Sometimes the troll posts are crafty but since the rally it has been fast and furious with variations of a couple of themes. The difference between regular reader's posts and posts meant to disrupt is so evident.
The bottom line for me is that safer streets benefit everyone and that Uptown is too polarized. Shiller will probably not be running in the next election. We need to start having productive conversations so that this can be a successful mixed-income community in the future. Decent, well-meaning and reasonable people went to that rally. It is time for the dirty tricks and the silencing of opponents to stop. Otherwise, these decent well-meaning and reasonable people may turn in another direction. People can only take so much standing by and being marginalized in their own community.
saskia is just naive. Shiller has made no secret among her circle that either herself of her son will be the alderman after the next election.
ReplyDeleteWell, if Shiller says so then I guess she will be alderman! I didn't know the ballot boxes could get rigged this early.
ReplyDeleteHer son, give me a break. No way!
ReplyDeleteDoes he even live in the ward?
My bet would be it will be someone known but not known to Uptown appointed by the mayor 6-8 months before the election.
I am sure her son makes more than an Alderman does.
12:47...I will take that bet...I will bet my house that either Shiller or her son is alderman after the 2011 election.
ReplyDeleteKeep lovin' on Da Mare you phonies while you hold rallies against him in other parts of the city! We're on to you you bunch of sell-outs! You're a laughing stock.
ReplyDeleteA lot can happen between now and the next election.
ReplyDeleteToo early to know.
saskia...if there was no anti-Shiller tone, why did her staff feel the need to armed with a baseball bat to defend themselves from you people?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any photos of the workers with bats? I asked this yesterday but don't think I got a response. Not that I doubt anyone, but an office full of people on the alderman's payroll arming themselves with bats against a pretty peaceful march is pretty big news. And a photo would make it even bigger. I've seen a lot of photos of the march and heard a lot about the bats but haven't seen one photo. No one took a photo? Just curious. Can someone post one?
Deflect. Deceive. Inveigle. Obfuscate.
ReplyDeleteAn UPTOWN RESIDENT was KILLED at the GAS PUMP in BROAD DAYLIGHT from THREE BULLETS!
Gun violence is BAD for our communities. WHAT are we going to do about it?
As far as I know, no pictures of the baseball bat wielding Shiller crew were taken, mainly because they demanded any protestors who entered the office to leave. I am certain those who did have cameras didn't want it broken trying to get a picture.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my plan on what to do about the violence in Uptown?
Move.
It didn't take me long to learn that if you are white, middle class and work your butt off to own a home instead of throwing it away on rent, that you are held in greater contempt in Uptown than the gang bangers and the drug dealers.
-If you care about crime and voice your opinion against it, you are a racist, elitist gentrifier that hates the poor.
-If you don't care about the crime and don't voice your opinion against it, you are a racist, elitist gentrifier that hates the poor.
Apparently "diversity" in Uptown doesn't include white, middle class. My 'working family' doesn't count for anything here. Of course, our property taxes are always welcome though!
Congrats Alderman Shiller, you have succeeded in throwing another 'bad apple' out of Uptown. I'm sure you and Couraj can toast over it.
Hey, Farrell. I understand your rage because I have it too. But stay with us. The reason why the Shilleristas are fighting back so brutally is because they are losing ground. Otherwise they could keep being successful by silencing good people like you rather than finding themselves served with lawsuits, low voter turnouts and such. Don't give up on Uptown. They won't be able to to maintain their stranglehold for long.
ReplyDelete"We know what this election will be about. It will be about faith versus fear, division versus unity, lies versus truth, rhetoric versus reality.."
ReplyDeleteThis was a quote in today's Washington Post from an Obama supporter. I thought it appropriate to our little part of the world as well...I hope whomever runs next time, remembers this line as it is 100% accurate for Uptown as well...
Thank you Saskia for the support.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, I am just one of those people that have reached my breaking point.
I'm tired of constantly being woken up by the drug dealers that hang out on my corner every night whistling and screaming. I'm sick of the drug dealing, and I'm sick of being afraid to walk home from the train station after 9:00 p.m. I'm tired of being afraid to walk my dog at night, because so many drug dealers and gang members loiter on my corner at dusk.
My neighbor was attacked in broad daylight, and a gang member shot another gang member in the gut at 10:00 at night, right outside my bedroom window. Because the 17 year-old kid lived, it wasn't even in the news.
I'm sick of constantly picking up trash, beer bottles, broken glass, 'Flamin Hot' Cheeto bags and juice bottles, and little drug baggies so my dog doesn't eat them.
I don't expect to live in an area with 'no crime' I am not a child. But this has been too much, a little too close to home, on a consistent basis.
I work too hard, and pay too much taxes to continue to not only deal with this issue, but be blamed for it by those who consider me a 'gentrifier' that is ruining their community. I've had enough of being ignored by an Alderman that has been Alderman for 20 years and is not going to change, regardless of how many rallys we hold.
I bought in Uptown because I could afford it, and it seemed like a neighborhood with a lot of potential. We did our research, we drove through the neighborhood, and we talked to the residents of the building. We were aware there were issues. What we weren't aware of, and what we should of done more research on, are the policies of the Alderman, and the underlying hatred of the middle class homeowner in Uptown.
I don't see these issues changing any time soon. I hope they do for those who choose to live here, but for me, I am tired of investing in a community that doesn't want me here anyway, and contributing to the salary of an Alderman that wants me to leave because I'm not part of her legacy.
Why did the alderman's staff feel the need to have baseball bats? Assuming they did have the bat.
ReplyDeleteWell if it is true why do some people wear tinfoil on their heads to keep out the waves from the CIA mind control people?
Stupidity. That crowd was not made up of violent people. There were cops right down the block. Shiller's staff was safe from everything except their own stupidity. Worry about the gangslime not the people at the rally. Sure maybe one of those moms with the strollers had an UZI or TEC 9 hidden under a blanket or something.
Dumb dumb dumb.
As for the rally having an anti Shiller tone........it did have undertones of that. Being that she did not even address the murder of a college student practically right outside her office door I think "undertones" were appropriate.
I guess acknowledging crime is somehow racist or classist or some other "ist". Personally, I think it is "humanist" to fight crime. But hey, what the hell do I know. I have my intellectual and moral betters such as Shiller and COURAJ to tell me that mentioning the MURDER of a young African immigrant makes me a racist.
Who knew?
I have been trying to follow this story. Few new details have come out. Fox News appears to be the only station to have sent cameras. Their reporter says that the police say that it is "possibly" gang related, that the victim was the intended target, the maroon van has WI plates and that children were present at the gas station when the shooting happened. Nothing on the Uptown connection.
ReplyDelete