A 19-year-old man was shot and killed in an alley in Sheridan Park shortly before midnight.
A reader wrote to say, "Multiple gunshots heard at 11:50 from the alley behind a VOP [Voice of the People-owned] building at 4418 N. Magnolia. Following the shots there was a lot of commotion and screaming. One person yelled something about 'not knowing he had a gun', and 'Now he had done it, the police are here.' It sounded like someone was shot and was screaming in pain. Multiple police units are currently on site."
Shortly afterward, the police scanner called it a homicide. We waited for confirmation, which came shortly after 1am. According to the Sun-Times, "Officers responding to a call of shots fired about 11:45 p.m. found him unresponsive in an alley with gunshot wounds to the side in the 4400 block of North Magnolia.... Police said the shooting may have been a drive-by attack."
19 years old and shot dead in an alley. You'd think this and so many similar incidents of violence would discourage kids from joining gangs. What a hellish and short life they choose when they join up.
He didn't gangbang. He was expected to start college next semester. He just graduated last week. His orientation was tomorrow. There was absolutely no reason for him to even be approached by anyone in this type of way. Its sad to say he was innocent. Rest In Peace My Brother - Sam Johnson
ReplyDeleteWhat are people doing in an alley at midnight anyway ?
ReplyDeleteGoing out for a smoke. Coming inside from their parking space. Or taking out the garbage, as we understand this young man was. A better question, why were people in our community in the alley with a loaded gun and why did they come with the intention of shooting someone? If anyone was in the wrong place at the wrong time, it was the murderer.
DeleteExcellent response, Kate. This kid was doing nothing wrong and I think the UU needs to retract their implication that he was a gang banger. Blacks are capable of being innocent bystanders too....
DeleteI'm believe he wasn't a gangbanger, but I'm positive the people who killed him were. Drive-by shootings don't happen outside of gangs in this time and place. I'm sorry for the implication that you are drawing that he was a 'banger -- but he died because of gang violence. It's a tragedy.
DeleteI thought the re-election of the alderman was going to stop this crazy shootings-looks like it is getting worse.
ReplyDeleteRoberta, what a stupid remark! Do you think elected officials are Jesus?! Addressing crime involves more than one person to eradicate. Try being part of the solution instead of constantly and senselessly criticizing!
DeleteOh yes. Magically.
DeleteMore police on streets of Uptown were promised-where are they?That is what my thoughts are on matter,stupid remark or not.SRY
DeleteThank you John--I do not blame Alderman Cappleman. I blame the gangs and their support system
DeleteYes. This shooting was done at the behest of our lousy, gang promoting, drug pedaling alderman. The audacity of him!
ReplyDeletePrince: If he was not a gang bang than way he got shout for what.
ReplyDeleteHuh?
DeleteThe alderperson does not control the level of police presence - he can only put in a request - that is the control of the mayor. Given the level of violence on the south side of Chicago, Uptown would be on lower priority. One should understand how the city council works before making damaging accusations.
ReplyDeleteHmm-funny-Turney got more police patrols by asking for that.Guess Uptown is not worthy of that.Please
DeleteAs I stated before, people who who do not understand how the city council works should not make damaging accusations, or spread unfounded rumors!!!
DeleteBertie, you really need to stop talking outta your backside. Where is it written that Uptown was promised more police or that Tunney just asked for more cops and magically got more? Every ward wants more police, but Uptown hasn't gotten a free pass to cut in line...when there have been out-of-the-ordinary issues, CPD temporarily diverts resources to try to fix them, whether it's Boystown or Uptown. You're fixated on Cappleman like the election is still coming up--knock it off, because you're wasting your time and nearly everyone's last nerve with your whining. Be part of the solution instead of whining about the way the rest of us voted. Remember that one of 50 elected officials can't single-handedly change everything to make li'l Miss Bertie happy overnight. But, along with the rest of us, he can chip away at the problems and try to repair the foundation Uptown was built on. What are YOU doing to help besides complain?
DeleteI'm not one of Cappleman's strongest supporters by any means, but I'm happy to say that my neighbors have spoken with him while he's been out walking the area where this shooting took place, and he's been confronting the gangbangers while he's out there. I was surprised and pleased to hear about that. Shiller, on the other hand, would never be seen or heard from after an incident--she would, however, send Deniece to make sure that the police were leaving the potential shooters alone. And if Amy had been elected, she wouldn't have been able to find the location of the shooting--plus she would have been camping out at the Supreme Court (instead of Uptown) to make sure that she was there to claim that she was responsible for the approval of same-sex marriage. I think we're doing better with Cappleman than we would be with either of those two. And thank god Shiller isn't being paid for another taxpayer-supported job.
Great post bear60640!!!
DeleteWell said, bear60640.
DeleteAgreed and thank you Bear60640. Alderman Cappleman has done way more for us all than shiller and denise ever would-except take free handouts.
DeleteFirst and most importantly I don't think the victim was a gangbanger. No mugshots online and his FB page doesn't have the normal gang stupidity one normally sees on their pages. Likely he was just targeted because the shooters assumed any young black guy standing at that location was an opposing gang member.
ReplyDeleteThe people who shot him were almost certainly gang members so the UU commentary on the hellish and short lives they lead is at least appropriate for the shooters and other gangbangers.
I'm not sure more cops would make much of a difference. These idiots are being arrested they just aren't generally getting any serious "locked up" time. The case of the mugger of Rahm's son is a prime example.
http://www.cwbchicago.com/2015/06/a-small-small-world-for-kid-who-robbed.html
A judge would be doing that kid a favor to put him in prison for a year or two. It might increase his life expectancy.
Now the current spate of homicides in Uptown is an outlier. Just like the one homicide in 2013 was. I suspect and hope that the homicide rate will return to "normal" levels soon. Perhaps I'm wrong and these gang wars will continue. At the rate it's going the "Hoolagang" is gonna be the "Hoolagone" soon enough. Between being killed, put in long term care for gunshot wounds, or in some cases even prison they are not having a good few years. At some point the number of targets is going to be reduced. It's really just a question of when and how many innocents get shot or die before that happens.
I suggest they make like Robert E Lee at Appomattox and surrender and move on to something else. If they were smarter and wiser they'd look around at their dwindling ranks and decide that Uptown and the gang lifestyle are not for them.
Like "Young Pappy" should have done they need to move because the alternatives aren't good.
The only reasonable suggestion I would give to Cappleman would be to really start using every legal means possible to put the screws to the housing providers that "enable" are gang friends. If that means changing eviction laws so be it. If that means bringing in the Feds and Rico laws against the housing providers so be it.
He's already had some success with certain large providers and buildings in the 46th Ward. There's at least one "outlier" provider though. The location of the latest shooting might give a clue as to which provider I speak.
You seem to know a whole lot about the gangs. Do you have any information on the "conservative vice lords" or "little 4 mob"? Those fools are actually bragging about the murders on facebook.
DeleteCan't say that I know the difference between a CVL and a LVL......Liberal Vice Lady.
DeleteYou could ask on Everyblock. The trolls are awaiting your comments.
You should post any relevant FB links. Help the cops find the shooters perhaps. It is amazing the stuff people in general and bangers in particular put on FB.
Very helpful to the police and prosecutors sometimes.
Miss Bertie has been here all her life Mr. Big Bear and Uptown has more violence now than it ever had-Miss Bertie knows more about the Uptown situation than you might think.If you do not like my posts ,don't read them.
DeleteMiss Bertie is full of ca ca. There is no where near the level of violence in Uptown as there was from say 1965-1995. Maybe even a few years longer.
DeleteNow are gang shootings up the last 18 months or so? Yep. Is that likely to last? Nope. At least I hope that. I've been here for nigh on 30 years and I can remember Uptown when electrified buses still ran down some streets which has to go back to the early 70's.
Your chances of being mugged, knifed, raped, beaten etc are way down from when I first moved here in the eighties.
Now I believe in the past Miss Bertie stated she lived in Buena Park in a comment. I might be wrong about that, Perhaps Miss Bertie lived in Buena Park and moved to another part of the hood. Ever see the movie "The Hunter" with Steve McQueen? From 1980 I believe. Part of it was filmed on the east side of Kenmore from say the little park south one block or so. It looked like a warzone and the "extras" weren't wannabee actors they were neighborhood residents.
You're actually saying violence is worse now than then? Hell back then there were white gangs, black gangs, Rican gangs, Mexican gangs and a few gangs of various ethnic groups. Your mountain Irish used to terrorize a good hunk of the neighborhood particularly in Buena Park/Sheridan Park where Truman is at.
Battles between Rican and white Appalachians used to be fought over control of that little "island" between Broadway and Sheridan just south of Montrose. Where the tattoo shop is now on Broadway used to be a True Value hardware that sold shotgun shells. How do I recall this? (makes sound of shell being racked into shotgun)
I recall gangs(flocks?) of tranny hookers working Broadway. Now I haven't seen a street hooker in Uptown in years. They may be around, but they aren't around in significant numbers.
If you do live in Buena Park and you think crime is out of control you're either delusional or trolling. I recall maybe two years ago some young woman who posted saying she couldn't wait to get out of Uptown because crime was out of control. She said she lived at Irving and Kenmore. Take a look at the shooting maps. Virtually every Uptown shooting is between 4400-4800 or in a few cases just north of Lawrence. Outside that area(DAMN--Dreaded Area Montrose North) crime is relatively low in Uptown.
Now that is cold comfort for those of us who live in DAMN, but it is the truth. There are no simple solutions to the crime problem. We aren't going to call in the National Guard, start shipping off bangers to Gitmo or subvert the constitution because some bangers are shooting up the hood.
Perhaps you would like street executions of bangers. No need for a trial or due process. Just line em up and shoot em. Ain't gonna happen and it shouldn't happen.
You remind me of one of my neighbors. Been here since early 2000's or longer and always bitching about Cappleman. Never complained about Shiller, but always whining about Cappleman. Claims Cappleman isn't tough enough to deal with crime. Supported Phelan and Crawford. I really think it's self loathing as he told me and this is almost an exact quote "gay men aren't tough enough to deal with crime". He's gay and makes no secret about it. Miserable since his long term partner left him for a boytoy.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH. The rant is ended go in peace or pieces. Reese's pieces. Yummy.
No one is blaming Cappleman-and no one is talking about Buena Park-get on the right track -talking about all the shootings in Uptown and need more police.The shooting in Uptown has been going on a lot longer than 18 months.Give your lectures to the shooters.
ReplyDelete"I thought the re-election of the alderman was going to stop this crazy shootings-looks like it is getting worse." That's what you wrote, Bertie...and you're not blaming Cappleman, eh? Make up your mind, please. Long-time residents KNOW that the shooting has been going on here a lot longer than 18 months, which is what IP and I both, along with others, have written. It's a roller-coaster ride that will continue until we ALL come together to make life more difficult for the gangbangers than they make it for the rest of us. What will more police do? The bangers scatter when the cops show up...five minutes after the cops leave, they're back. Arrest them and they bail out...if they actually get prosecuted, they serve a couple of months and they're back again, telling their buddies how tough they are after serving time in the Big House...then they do their shooting or get shot at, shifting from one "safe house" to another (at another baby mama's) until they fail to dodge the last bullet. The police can only do so much, and the criminal legal system doesn't keep them locked up. You ought to know that if you've lived here as long as you claim. So stop grumbling that we need more police and start pushing for other solutions that will actually get the bangers locked up for longer than a couple of months OR force them to find better opportunities than the street corners and alleys of Uptown.
DeleteAlso your talking about stuff that does not even have anything to do with the main post.Thought the idea of this site was to just give your view on the post-did not know when posting if someone does not agree with an others view point it caused some people's feathers to get so ruffled. Oh well
ReplyDeleteI think you are missing the whole. Crime is not solved with just putting more police on the street, that is only a temporary fix. One has to strategize, and formulate a plan to counteract. Nip it in the bud so to speak. This calls for involving more than just police. Addressing the housing in which the problem resides would be an example.
DeleteSince you seem to have all the answers Mr. Bear and like to argue,why don't you run for office and solve the problem. I agree with your reply John,yes there is a housing problem in Uptown.
ReplyDeleteBertie, I have some experience here after dealing with it up-front-and-personal for 20 years. I share my thoughts in here, but I also do that in block club and other community forums, along with talking with the alderman's office and CPD. I've been elected to several community organization offices, and was flattered to be approached some 10 years ago to run for alderman. I chose not to, for reasons that I don't feel obligated to explain to anyone. I listen and learn, then do my part to help build consensus. Unlike some people in UU, I try to not write without thinking, but I will point out silliness and inconsistencies that some people espouse, knowing as I do from my own posts that people can and will call out those things--especially when it's unfair. I learn from those things, and I suggest you do the same.
DeleteI also understand that you and your spouse are considering exercising your Second Amendment rights because of the concerns you express here. Bravo. But remember that the exercise of those rights, just like exercising any rights of a citizen, also comes with responsibilities. Responsibilities like taking your issues directly to your elected officials instead of only complaining in a community blog...and like learning how to safely discharge a firearm without spraying gunfire across your neighborhood like our resident gangbangers tend to do. Personally, I think it would be more effective to rachet up the pressure on the gangbangers to leave, instead of shooting at them and have them think there's another gang trying to muscle their way in. I'll keep my firearms reserved for deer and wild turkey hunting far away from Uptown.
Very good Mr. Bear-just a correction in your post-my spouse passed away.Ty
ReplyDelete