Chicago shooting victims top 3,000 this year

CHICAGO – More than 3,000 people have been shot in Chicago so far this year, more than all of last year, with 30 percent of the shootings in just three police districts on the West Side, according to data collected by the Tribune.

As of early Monday, at least 3,028 people had been shot in the city this year compared to 2,980 in 2015. Days earlier, the city recorded its 500th homicide, surpassing last year’s total of 481.

Two West Side districts, Austin and Ogden, have had more than twice as many shootings, the data shows. At least 265 people have been shot in Austin, compared to 112 last year at this time; in Ogden, 232 people have been shot, compared to 106.

A third West Side district, Harrison, recorded the most people shot of any of the city’s 22 districts: 423 compared to 237 last year, according to Tribune data collected from staff reporting and police reports.

The three districts cover roughly Division Street south to the Stevenson Expressway, and from Western Avenue to the city’s west edge. The Austin District, from Cicero Avenue to Austin Boulevard between Division and Roosevelt Road, is the smallest in the city.

The other district that saw a spike in shootings was Englewood on the South Side, long troubled by gun violence. There have been 324 people shot so far this year compared to 246 this time last year. Even with 100 fewer people shot than in Harrison, Englewood still had the second-most gunshot victims in the city.

Three districts saw a slight drop in shootings, all of them on the North and Northwest sides: Jefferson Park, from 14 to 12; Lincoln, 17 to 14; and Rogers Park, 37 to 34. One district reported the same number of people shot: Albany Park, 32.

The median age for those shot in Chicago is 24, up one year from 2015. Thirty children 13 and under have been shot so far this year, compared to 25 at this time last year, according to Tribune data.

The year began with sharp increases in the number of people shot in January and February. In January, 297 people were shot, a jump of about 100 percent from the same month last year. In February, 192 people were shot, an increase of 167 percent.

As of this past Sunday, at least 131 people were shot in September, which has been marked by violence the last few years. Last September at this time, 120 people had been shot, Tribune data shows.

Over the weekend, eight people were shot to death and at least 35 others were wounded.

They included Keekee Fleming, 18, shot and killed Sunday evening while attending a vigil for Nahmar Holmes, 23, who was killed on the same block on the South Side the day before, according to police. Two other teens were shot with Fleming near 89th and Justine.

The three were in a group gathered around candles and a makeshift memorial about 8:15 p.m. when a gray van pulled up and someone inside opened fire, police said. Fleming was hit in the head and pronounced dead at Little Company of Mary Hospital, according to police and the woman’s family.

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the buttocks and an 18-year-old man was shot in the armpit and chest, according to police. They were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where they were in serious to critical condition, according to Chicago Fire Cmdr. Frank Velez.

The vigil was being held for Nahmar T. Holmes, 23, who was shot to death around 5:20 p.m. Saturday as he stood in front of a home in the same block. Police said two people walked up and began firing, hitting him several times. He was taken to the Little Company of Mary Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said he lived on that block.

The deadliest stretch of the weekend was Saturday into Sunday morning, when four men were killed and at least 16 other people were wounded.

Among those wounded was a 17-year-old football player at Chicago Vocational Career Academy, according to police. He was standing in front of a home in the 10900 block of South Eberhart Avenue when a gray sedan drove past and fired shots, police said.

The boy was hit in the back and right hand and transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized.

The weekend began with a fatal shooting shortly before midnight at Division Street and Maplewood Avenue that was witnessed by police.

The officers saw a car drive by a restaurant and at least one occupant open fire, according to a law enforcement source. A person outside restaurant began firing toward the car, according to the source.

One or more of the officers fired shots, and the person outside suffered injuries that weren’t life-threatening, according to a news release from Chicago police. No officers were reported injured.

Soon after, a teen was found fatally shot in a car farther west on Division Street, police said. He is believed to have been killed in the gunfire that the officers originally witnessed, police said. He was identified as Louis Rodriguez, 18, of the 1300 block of North Oakley Boulevard.