2 Killed, 8 Wounded in Shooting at Chicago Memorial
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Ten people were shot, including two who were fatally wounded, Sunday evening in what police believe was a gang-retaliation hit targeting a memorial for another man who had been killed earlier in the day.
The victims were attending an outdoor memorial service around 5:15 p.m. for Daniel Cardova, 26, who was fatally shot in a pre-dawn killing in the city’s Brighton Park neighborhood about 13 hours earlier, The USA today reported.
“During this memorial, two subjects came out of an alley east of the location…and opened fire with rifles,” said First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro, who called the latest incident “another brazen-act of gang violence on Chicago's streets.”
Police did not have any suspects in custody for the shooting, which left a man and woman dead. But officers saturated the neighborhood Sunday evening as they searched for the gunmen — and in hopes of dissuading a retaliatory incident.
"We have a fairly good idea who we're looking for," Deputy Chief Kevin Ryan told reporters. "We have a fairly good idea of the conflict involved and where we need to be deployed.”
The killings on the city’s Southwest Side mark the latest chilling spasm of violence in Chicago, which has seen more than 950 murders since the start of 2016. Over the last 16 months, the nation’s third-largest city has seen more murders and non-fatal shootings than New York and Los Angeles have tallied combined. Police say most of the violence, which has disproportionately impacted black and Latino neighborhoods on the city's South and West sides, is gang-related.
Cardova, 26, was found fatally shot on the street by police officers who responded to calls of shots fired around 4:40 a.m. on Sunday. Officers discovered Cardova, who police said was a documented gang member, lying between two parked cars when they arrived on the scene.
No one is in custody for Cardova’s killing.
In both of the shootings police suspect gang members with high-powered rifles. Two Chicago police officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries last week after gang members opened fire using semi-automatic rifles. Police believe the officers, who were in unmarked police department vehicle, were mistaken for rival gang members.
Police on Saturday announced the arrest of an 18-year-old man who investigators say was involved in the shooting of the officers, which happened in a neighborhood adjacent to where Sunday’s two shooting incidents occurred.
The suspect, Angel Gomez, was charged Saturday night with two counts each of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. Police said he’s expected to appear at a bond hearing Monday.
Gomez is an alleged member of the gang La Raza, one of several Hispanic gangs active on the city’s Southwest Side, according to police. He's suspected of driving the vehicle in which the shooters were riding, according to police.
Alderman Raymond Lopez, a member of Chicago’s city council representing the area where Sunday’s two fatal gang-related shootings occurred, called the violence “nonsense” and urged residents to help authorities crack down on the gangs.
“The wakeup call has been here,” Lopez said. “It’s time for us to act. It is time for each and every one of us to start looking at what’s going on our blocks, to identify who is the gang member, who are the drug dealers, and who is supporting them in our