9 Dead, At Least 36 Wounded in Weekend Chicago Violence

Five children were wounded in one incident Sunday night in what witnesses said was a drive-by

At least nine people were killed and more than 36 others wounded in shootings around Chicago from Friday afternoon through early Monday morning.

Among the wounded were five children who were shot in a drive-by while leaving a park on a warm Easter evening.

The weekend's latest fatal shooting occurred at about 1 p.m. Sunday when shots were fired upon a Lincoln Navigator. Police said the driver of an orange Hummer blocked the Navigator head-on at the corner of 28th Street and Sawyer Avenue. Two people with guns then stepped out of the Hummer and fired nearly a dozen bullets at the Navigator, right under a police "blue light" camera.

A 13-year-old boy who lives near the scene said he saw part of the shooting happen from inside his home. Both people in the Hummer had white masks on, he said, and after the shooting, someone drove the vehicle south on Sawyer Avenue.

Police were searching for the Hummer.

The Navigator drove off and was later found at the corner of 24th Street and Kedzie Avenue, police at the scene said. A 33-year-old man in that vehicle was found shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A 19-year-old man who was shot in the chest died after being taken to Stroger Hospital.

On Saturday morning, two teens who were found dead in an apartment building were killed over a dispute that played out on Facebook, according to the mother of the one of the victims.

Jordan Means, 16, and Anthony Bankhead, 18, were found dead just after 10:30 a.m. in an apartment in the 8200 block of South Houston Avenue on the South Side, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy revealed they were both shot in the head.

"An argument led to this, that’s crazy," said Camille Cochran, 42, Jordan Means’ mother. "Now, I don’t have my son no more."

She said Means was her baby -- the youngest of her three kids. He was a sophomore at Bowen High School, liked to play basketball and was a ladies man, she said.

Chicago police were questioning someone Sunday but could not provide any other details about the person.

Means lived less than a block from the South Chicago neighborhood basement apartment where the shooting happened. Friends gathered there Saturday night. Candles illuminated pools of blood left by the shooting.

In the other fatal shootings:

  • A Chicago Police Officer and her husband, a Cook County Sheriff’s correctional officer, were found dead about 5 a.m. Sunday in their Southwest Side home Sunday in what appears to be a murder-suicide, authorities said.
  • A 43-year-old man was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds around 9:30 a.m. Saturday in an alley in the 2900 block of West Flournoy Street, police said.
  • Nicholas Ramirez, 19, of the 3900 block of South Rockwell Street, was found shot to death around 2:30 a.m. Saturday in the1600 block of West Hubbard Street. Two vehicles had been involved in a chase on Ashland Avenue, police said. The vehicle driven by the victim eventually hit two other vehicles in the 1600 block of West Hubbard before crashing into a concrete median. A man then fired into the crashed vehicle before driving off east on Hubbard, according to the police, who said Ramirez died after being shot in the head and a leg.
  • Trevolus Pickett, 20, of the 8300 block of South Dorchester Avenue, was shot to death Friday night on the West Side in a gangway in the 5200 block of West Congress Parkway in South Austin. He was shot in the head around 11:15 p.m. Friday and pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital at 12:05 a.m. 

Five children were injured in what witnesses said was a drive-by shooting near East 67th Street and South Michigan Avenue, in the city's Park Manor neighborhood.

The kids were coming from a park near Brownell Elementary School at about 7:30 p.m. when witnesses say a car pulled up and someone in the car asked them a question. The group fled but someone in the car opened fire, striking four girls and one boy, witnesses said.

 "I thought it was firecrackers but I saw everyone running," said witness Kimyana Bryant. "My mom ran over to us. I was trying to get all the kids from the park. I brought them over here so they could be in the house with us."

Police couldn't immediately confirm the details provided by witnesses.

A 15-year-old girl was in stable condition and an 11-year-old girl was listed in critical condition. Both were transported to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to authorities. A 14-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were both taken to Comer Children's Hospital. The boy was last listed in stable condition and the girl was in serious condition. Another 14-year-old girl later walked into Saint Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center with a graze wound in her buttocks, police said.

At least 23 shell casings were seen on the ground near the scene.

"You can't even come to the park and enjoy yourself without this happening," said witness Christiana Sanders. "The kids should be able to come into their community without worrying about violence. It needs to stop."

No one was in custody as of Monday morning.

Another shooting late Sunday in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood sent a 15-year-old girl to a hospital.

Authorities said the teen was a passenger in a vehicle headed southbound in the 1700 block of North Pulaski Road about 9:40 p.m. When the vehicle stopped at the intersection of West Wabansia Avenue, three males crossed the street and flashed gang signs, police spokesman Hector Alfaro said.

As the car drove on, one of them fired shots at the vehicle, hitting the 15-year-old girl in the back, according to police.

She was taken to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center in and initially listed in stable condition.

It was not clear early Monday how many other people were in the car or if anyone else was hurt in that shooting.

No one was in custody as of 5 a.m.

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