Chicago reels as at least three mass shootings reported within six hours
Three killed and 27 people wounded in unrelated violence
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As many as three mass shootings within several hours of one another have left residents and officials in Chicago reeling, with multiple victims involved in a day of violence.
Although shooting incidents in Illinois’ biggest city are well documented, David Brown, the chief of Chicago’s police, told reporters that he and the city’s residents were “in a battle for the heart and soul of some of our communities”, in a call for people to come forward with information on Thursday.
It followed reports of three mass shootings – each with multiple victims – in the space of six hours on Wednesday night, in which a teenager was killed, and dozens more injured.
A drive-by shooting wounded eight people between the age of 23 and 54, including two drivers employed with a party bus company, minutes before midnight in Chicago’s Near North Side on Wednesday.
Officials said it remained unclear if all victims were party bus passengers, or were merely bystanders caught in the crossfire. At least two were in a serious or critical condition, The Chicago Tribune reported. There have not been any arrests.
That followed two shooting incidents earlier on Wednesday evening in North Lawndale, in the city’s Near West Side, in which nine people were wounded and a 15-year-old boy was killed between the two shootings, which occurred within blocks and minutes of one another.
Mr Brown, speaking with reporters, said he hoped he would get the cooperation of Chicago’s communities with the department’s investigations, as well as the wounded.
“We are in a battle for the heart and soul of some of our communities and now is the time to speak up. We’re much more effective when the community speaks up and gives us information,” said the police chief, adding that he wanted to avoid painting everyone “with a broad brush”.
“We have to be relentless ...We are not going to ever quit on this community. We believe in the people of Chicago,” he added. “I’m calling out this element of the community that wreaks havoc, they terrorise people.”
Two other men were killed on Wednesday in an unconnected drive-by shooting, which also occurred in the Near West Side of Chicago, according to The Tribune. They were aged 28 and 31, and have not been identified.
A total of 27 people were shot between between 5:40 pm Wednesday and 1:40 am Thursday, including three who died of their injuries, police said.