BLACK VIOLENCE - Shootings at Famed Buckingham Fountain, Chicago's Millennium park, Internationally known ROCK AND ROLL McDONALD'S RESTAURANT, On Lake Shore Drive, and ON Chicago Expressways....
The driver of a blue sedan stopped at a red light in the Roseland neighborhood early Tuesday and looked out at the homicide scene to his left: yellow tape, rows of police cars, a body covered by a white sheet.
"Jesus Christ," he cried out to no one in particular. "When will this stop?"
He rested his head in his hand until the light turned green.
Across Chicago, three men were killed and at least 19 other people — including four 15-year-old boys — were wounded in shootings from Monday afternoon through early Tuesday. It was a violent end to a month that saw 78 homicides, more than double the 30 from the same month last year, according to police statistics.
The last weekend of October was the deadliest in Chicago so far this year, with 17 people killed by gunfire, including an eighth-grader and 17-year-old twins. The number of homicides is running 200 above this time last year.
The Roseland shooting on the Far South Side occurred about 12:35 a.m.. Police heard gunfire near the 11100 block of South Michigan Avenue and discovered two men with gunshot wounds lying in the street.
Gerald Gordon, 19, had been shot in the chest and was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. The other man, 22, was shot in the head and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. His condition was stabilized.
The stretch of Michigan Avenue where they were killed is usually bustling, according to police and neighbors. The men were found in front of a sandwich shop that does brisk business all day and into the night. There are also crowds of young men selling drugs.
"You know how they yell out, 'Loud, loud, loud,' " said Paris Slaughter, 23, using a slang term for marijuana.
Slaughter moved to the neighborhood from the West Side recently to live with his grandmother. He was worried about her living alone, and he figured Roseland would be less violent.
His grandmother has lived nearby for nearly 20 years, he said. "Grandma said, 'Be careful, it’s not that good out here,' " he said. "It’s not like it used to be."
Another fatal shooting occurred two hours later, around 2:35 a.m., in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. A 51-year-old man was standing outside in the 600 block of North Ridgeway Avenue when someone fired shots from a passing vehicle. The man was hit in the back and pronounced dead at Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center.
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