Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Woman Shot On Argyle Sunday Night; Ald. Osterman Gives Details


Uptown recorded its third shooting of the year this past weekend, on Argyle. It occurred just steps away from the first shooting of the year, which took place in March (a suspect has been arrested in that one). Ald. Osterman released a statement on Monday:

"Dear Neighbor:

Last night, following a verbal altercation between two women visiting our community from other parts of the city, a shooting occurred on the 5000 block of Winthrop Ave. The women involved are believed by police to know each other. One woman was shot in the leg and is expected to recover fully from her injuries.

Thank you to the 20th District Police Officers who responded to this incident. If you have additional information regarding this case, please contact Area North Detectives at 312-744-8263. I will share more information about this incident with neighbors as it becomes available.

The 20th District has increased police presence in the Argyle area and I am working to have a new light and security camera installed mid-block on the 5000 block of Winthrop.

At this time I would also like to extend my sorrow and sympathy toward those affected by the shooting at a synagogue in San Diego this weekend. The senseless gun violence that continues to take place our city and country can feel overwhelming. It is important that we come together to build bridges and understanding across communities.


Sincerely,

Harry Osterman
Alderman, 48th Ward"

3 comments:

  1. This is not the "third shooting" of the year. It is perhaps the third bullets-hit-flesh of the year, but we've been having shootings almost daily; allegedly as a result of that *other* assassination that happened on Argyle.

    The violence this year is out of control. It's not "summer as usual." (And even if it were, that would be no excuse). It seems like nothing is getting done, and if it is, it's not working.

    At the very least, the violence is unacknowledged. The only way to know about the daily attempted murders (and what else should we call them?) is through unofficial, half-trustworthy facebook pages. But I've seen some of these with my own two eyes. I know they happen and I know they go unacknowledged by the police and our aldermen as long as nobody gets killed.

    Did you know that for all of those daily shootings, the policy only record them as "property damage"? Seems like attempted murder to me, but alas they probably don't want to look bad in their statistics.

    There is a term in the social sciences called "normalization of deviance". "Social normalization of deviance means that people within the organization. become so much accustomed to a deviation that they don't consider it as deviant, despite the fact that they far exceed their own rules for the elementary safety."

    Basically, you let little things slide, until they seem normal because "that's the way it's always been". And then a space shuttle explodes, or your business gets hacked into, or—in our case—somebody gets their brains blown out in a bus stop.

    These attempted murders are happening every single day. Is it too much to ask that they be acknowledged even when they fail? How can we expect that the issue is being addressed when it's not even acknowledged? How many more businesses need to close, how many more people need to die? FML.

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  2. Law enforcement across the country defines a "shooting" as a "person who is shot." Bullets that do not hit a person are "shots fired." You are free to work with CPD on changing their terminology, but until it changes, we are going to stick with common usage rather than redefine the criminal code on this blog. https://home.chicagopolice.org/inside-the-cpd/contact-us/

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  3. Crime along the Red line corridor has long been a problem. I myself was assaulted not long ago, steps away from the Berwyn L stop, one evening. I was lucky my assailant wasn't carrying a gun.

    I'm all in favor of active surveillance and real time identification of suspects. You can expect all public activity to be under surveillance and one day artificial intelligence will make identification and apprehension easier, improving public safety.

    That's my answer to 2nd amendment rights advocates.

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