No more details; we'll post as we find out more.
Update: The victim is being taken to Illinois Masonic. No idea of his condition. The police are treating this as a gang-related shooting (what a surprise) and are trying to head off any retaliatory shooting that may follow.
Update: As of 2AM, there are still six or seven police vehicles at the crime scene and yellow crime scene tape up along the Lawrence sidewalk outside the Uptown Pantry.
Update: Chicago Breaking News has the sad conclusion to the story: "A 19-year-old man was killed on the Far North Side neighborhood of Margate Park... The teen was shot in the 900 block of West Lawrence Avenue about 12:30 a.m. and pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said. The Chicago Police Department's news affairs office wasn't able to provide other details about the shooting." Our sympathies go out to the people who loved the young man who lost his life.
Watch out for any suspicious behavior in the next few days, as there is usually retaliation when a gang-related killing occurs. In this case, the police were heard on the scanner saying the Gangster Disciples may be planning retaliation. Keep yourself safe, and call 911 if you see anything starting to happen.
Did anyone hear anything around Montrose and Clark about 1:30? I was laying in bed but heard something that sounded like gunshots followed immediately by sirens. Haven't seen anything about it, though.
ReplyDeleteSchools out and gangs are in. Better dig out the old bulletproof vest as something tells me it is going to be a long hot summer. It has to be some record for gang activity in Chicago this year so far. Lets hope most of it stays centered to the South and West sides of the city.
ReplyDeleteThis corner has just gotten really heated in the past months. Lawrence House now has two armed security officers who work evenings, so there is not as much hanging out right in front, but the bangers are still active in the area. This is getting so incredibly frustrating and frightening. I live in the area and it is not hard to know who the bangers are, it is the same handful of guys every day. It is amazing to me that the community will allow for a small handful of individuals who are really not giving anything positive to the community to have such a dramatic, tragic and crippling effect on the entire area. 1 block from a Boys and Girls club, 1.5 blocks from the school and the brand new park.
ReplyDeleteHow about NOT AT ALL! Killings should b obsolete and not just centered on a certain side of town! That was clearly an asinine statement u made WISEGUY!!! Instead of comments like this, how about coming up with solutions to deter and prevent it!
ReplyDeleteHow bout I hope it stays on the Northside in your neighborhood. SMH, you should have hope it gets ou of chicago rather wishing bad on others communities pal.
ReplyDeleteJoin your neighbors starting July 1st in boycotting Papa Rays, J.J. Peppers, US Sub and Grill and Uptown Pantry for not taking action against our gangs. Letters have been sent out asking them to discontinue serving known gang members and criminals in the community. Businesses have the right to not serve any customer. By continuing to do so they are providing safe havens for the gangs to dive into when Police are present or to conduct business.
ReplyDeleteThis shooting aught to be the final straw with us. It is time we force the hand of the players that can help turn the tide in favor of hard working, law abiding citizens. Demand these four business's call 911 whenever gang members are present in or outside of their business and that they discontinue serving them. If we see no change with these business's in who they serve, boycott them beginning July 1st.
Tikisha Austin & DCP... The cops hands are tied. In the old days the cops would take these punks in the back seat of the car and have a nice little talk with them. The good old school way. If they did it today you all be crying police brutality. Seems to me when I hear or read the news, I see, most of the violent gang crime comes from the South and West sides of the city , not the North side pal... Uptown is a nursery school compaired to those areas.
ReplyDeleteWiseguy, you hope it stays on the West & South Side??
ReplyDeleteOf course if we do see change in these business's, patronize them, thank them and bring them your dollars.
ReplyDeleteThe time, resources, money, energy and willingness to fix the problem are not and never will be present. To solve this deeply rooted of a social problem means starting at the ground and working up with teen moms, fatherless children and programs to keep kids on the right track, and more importantly, protecting them from the bad influences or teaching them how to make the right decisions. (This is just the tip of the iceberg). When a kid doesn't have the help, nurturing and support at home, they find it any way they can. In some caess, that means gangs. Not to mention that the criminal justice system can seem like a joke at times. Everyone's looking for a quick and solution. Guess what, there isn't one! I can't blame Wiseguy for wanting the problems to stay out of his neighborhood, so do I! Why should I have to fix all the problems other people cause??? I've got enough trouble raising my own kids as it is and working to provide for my family. Flame away . . .
ReplyDelete12:50 AM is prime time to be needing a monster slice at Papa Rays anyways. Now i will have to seriously consider what a piece of pizza is worth to me. Would prefer to not be accidently shot in gang cross fire.
ReplyDeleteTurning your rage about this issue against each other is counter-productive. Surely, you see this.
ReplyDeleteThe days of police officers parenting fatherless ghetto gang-bangers ended 15-20 years ago when lawsuits filed against the police were rewarded with million$ in settlements by Cook County juries.
ReplyDeleteOne thing our murderous gangs aren't worried about for the most part, is return fire from their targets. Ex Alderman (and a made member of the Chicago outfit) Fred Roti made sure of that when he sponsored laws making concealed carry illegal back in 1983. It was actually the mob that wanted guns outlawed so there was less of a chance THEY would be facing a gun as they robbed innocent victims.
Chicago Police Department statistics, however, reveal that the City's handgun murder rate has actually increased since the ban was enacted and that Chicago residents now face one of the highest murder rates in the country.
Guess what else? Illinois is the ONE AND ONLY state in the U.S. that won't allow its citizens to protect themselves with concealed carry handguns. Allow concealed carry here and have a few vicious felons get shot by innocent citizens protecting themselves and their families and MANY will think twice before choosing a life of crime.
@ uptownaction - while I understand your desire to take some form of action to address the obvious problem at this corner, I am not sure I agree with you 100% for the following reasons.
ReplyDelete1) aside from the store owner, I would not expect someone being paid minimum wage to put their life on the line by refusing service to these thugs.
2). By boycotting these businesses, you are just giving the gang bangers our streets. Instead, I feel we would do more to deter crime by spending more time in these shops. By doing so, it would be more difficult to sell the drugs and cause other problems.
That being said , I would be 100% behind doing whatever it takes to revoke jj peppers liquor license.
Although it is obvious that the plaza host a wide variety of individuals and yes gang and drug related
ReplyDeleteThe owners of JJs know myself an my fiancé by name and we frequently go in there for milk, soda, etc. I will not boycott
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ReplyDeletenational gang map
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article from Chicago Magazine that offers some reasons for the continuing problem in Chicago, in contrast to New York:
Why are there so many gang members in Chicago?
I don't have any answers because from the article, it seems this mess was forty or more years in the making -- but I'm pretty sure that boycotting JJ's or revoking their liquor license isn't going to do a whole hell of a lot of anything but annoy your law-abiding neighbors who patronize the store. I've lived in the neighborhood for more than 13 years, and appreciate having a store I can walk to for a loaf of bread or a six of beer. I REFUSE to give it up to the bangers.
The police usually respond to centralized high crime/incident problems, (PARTICULARLY when accompanied by citizen complaints), by attempting to create a high visibility presence, at least until the problem dissipates or goes away completely. Often this will include assigning a footbeat or a "special attention" notice on the beat car assigned to the beat and other adjacent cars. That often was effective when the CPD was not undermanned. Unfortunately, this is a function of a fully manned Department, which the CPD no longer is.
ReplyDeleteCommanders have been told to "do more with less", but they were being forced to do that years ago, so now it pretty much amounts to doing LESS with less.
But Rahm has million$ to buy cameras and bike lanes and kayaks and DREAM programs etc. I guess he figures a few dead gangbangers aren't much of a loss, so why bother trying to throw money at the problem by paying for a fully functioning police department?
Hmmm...when Papa Ray's opened up its new store last year there was a lot of support from UU. I even took your advice and went there for a "monster slice."
ReplyDeleteNow it's fallen out of favor. Why? Is there documented evidence that the local bad guys are hanging out there?
I mean this is ridiculous....so glad I live in Gold Coast...but I'm aware it can happen anywhere....but there are valid points here....he's correct with the police brutality thing...as a society we have now made it impossible to discipline children and criminals...hell, if most of these people could discipline their children the way they should be able to...perhaps we wouldn't have criminals...I wish things were back to the way they were...clearly crime was down because police were able to arrest and beat the crap out of people...no more...so it is what it is now....and things will only get worse..a fact...every year...
ReplyDeleteWhen did it fall out of favor Gayle? I still go there often. And love it.
ReplyDeletePapa Ray's just became my favorite Uptown restaurant. I stopped by last night and had an awesome chicken Caesar salad and plan on patronizing them as much as I can. I encourage my neighbors to do the same!
ReplyDeleteI love Papa Rays, their slices are fantastic; I was in heaven last Friday night due to one of their specialty pizzas. 8 out of 10 times I've been in there in the evenings, "the regulars" (i.e. bangers) are there and rarely eating. I've witnessed them sit on their phones and call orders over to the crew posted up outside J.J. Peppers. They linger around just outside the front door like they own the place. It's unacceptable. As a business they are a part of our community and should therefore not be providing a haven for gangs to hang out in or around. Didn't we already have one Laurie's event this year?? Take away the places that the bangers loiter/hang out in and they will feel squeezed, hopefully inconvenienced and God willing get the hell out of Uptown.
ReplyDeleteSaying you won't boycott any of these four businesses IF they take no action against our gangs is taking the side OF the gangs. Either come up with another new solution or consider yourself part of the problem.
Sunday night I heard two shots, jumped up and looked outside to see a dead, lifeless body lying face down on the sidewalk. The bangers buddy was nudging him to see if he had any life left in him. Then jumping around hysterically upon finding out he didn't. I now have that image seared into my frontal cortex and it isn't pleasant. I have reached my breaking point and these bastards need to vacate our neighborhood and city. It is time to act.
@uptownaction - again, I do not see the logic in boycotting a business such as papa rays. I think a better solution would be to increase the presence of "normal" law abiding citizens in these establishments. That would put pressure on the bangers to find another home. Boycotting just gives them full reign andmakes the store owners more reliant on their business. You also run the risk of putting them out of business entirely and in my opinion a vacant storefront would only make the problem worse.
ReplyDeleteSorry you had to witness the shooting and I totally understand the frustration. However, these scum bags don't respond to requests to move on. Instead, we need to form our own gang in a sense and force THEM from our streets.
When does Papa Rays come a breaking point? Thats the real question. If this isnt it, then there wont be one and something worse will happen and they will be shut down like lauries.
ReplyDeleteThis should be Sheridan and Lawrence's breaking point where enough is enough, I cant believe how many years the gangs have been there.
I think the local citizenry showing up in full force and positive loitering and asking politely and forcefully for the store owners to do their jobs and stop the negative loitering. ITS THEIR STORES..... ARE THEY SAFER WHEN THEY GIVE INTO INTIMIDATION?
No. They just open themselves up to possibly being shot by an errant bullet missing its target.
I hope people think better than to boycott stores for not acting like neighborhood enforcers. Stores are not police, are not armed, and can't count on people like UptownAction to come to their defense if gangs take retaliatory measures. These shops are victims of the violence already, in terms of all the people who are too intimidated to shop at their establishments - why take our frustration out on them?
ReplyDelete@ Unknown,
ReplyDeleteDont pass on intimidation. Thats what the gangs want. We are not safer with gangs taking up residence in stores. Again, how are stores SAFER with gangs in residence there. The store dont have to tolerate the intimidation and yes they arent police, thats why they can call police if the gangs are harrassing them.
As a non-consumer of flaming hot cheetos, blunt wraps and malt liquor, I've been de facto boycotting JJ's and Uptown Pantry for years. These places market towards and embrace the gang/addict element.
ReplyDeletePapa Rays and US Sub are just locationally challenged and deserve our business.
Boycotting a legitimate business will just leave you with an empty storefront and then we will be complaining about that. Never mind the fact that people will be losing their jobs. Or maybe we should approach this differently. Instead of trying to out drug dealers and gang members-they don't care anyway-why not try and go after people that are actually buying drugs ? Would you be buying drugs if you knew that your picture would be posted all over the web? I would think not.
ReplyDeleteAlso, has anyone ever thought about going after landlords that are knowingly renting apartments to drug dealers? Would you like to have your name and/or your property featured on the web like that? i can guarantee that you would not. Is any one willing to put in the time and effort to do this? Let me know.
@ gt
ReplyDeleteHow about you? Shouldn't be hard. I bet if you spent a couple weeks posted up at Lawrence/Sheridan with a camera you might get some good pics that you could then post on UU? Thanks for taking action, we look forward to seeing your pics soon!
Again, can't stress it enough; I love Papa Rays. It's also a beehive of bangers. Practically EVERYDAY they swarm right out front and occasionally dive inside for God knows what but not to actually order food.
ReplyDeleteHave any doubts? Find a nice observation point on the SW corner of Lawrence/Sheridan sometime between 3-9 pm and enjoy.
A no-tolerance community policy is the only strategy that will work. As citizens we must keep very watchful eyes and call 911 to report "suspicious persons" whenever we see them lurking about. As business owners, they need to tell them that they are no longer welcome and call 911 if they see loitering around their business or if they feel threatened. If we don't call & put the pressure on, and they continue serving them, we all fail.
This is I know - after reading these comments, I'm gonna try Papa Rays for a slice.
ReplyDeleteTo everyone in response to Papa Rays & the Struggles it has incurred over the last year. The owner has hired my Best Friend Matt Villareal to run the business as well as establishing a safe & clean environment for all. Recently on August 28th a gunman in his 50's attempted to rob Papa Rays & almost took Matt's life but by the Grace of God he was subdued until CPD arrived. As a direct result of this incident the owner of Papa Rays has made Matt the New Owner in the coming months. Matt & Me grew up in Ravemswood & Uptown so we know what is needed to regain the communities confidence. I will help Matt regain your confidence at all costs especially considering Matt almost gave his Life Up for this community. You can find Matt Villareal on FaceBook & I encourage you to communicate your concerns & ideas for Papa Rays. We will work in conjunction with Jesus People USA who my family has worked for years enduring years to help Uptowns Homeless Community.
ReplyDeleteGod is Great
Gerald Powell
It was promising until it morphed into a Jesus People USA rant...what a cancer that group is.
ReplyDelete