CHICAGO, IL – Over the Easter weekend, Chicago witnessed a surge in gun violence that left at least seven dead and multiple others injured, including a man who was shot nine times while refueling his car, as per Monday’s police reports.
The 33-year-old man was targeted at a gas station in the Home Square neighborhood late on Saturday night. The police reported that three assailants opened fire, shooting both handgun and rifle rounds, before escaping in a white Infiniti. Despite being critically injured, the man managed to drive himself to Mt. Sinai Hospital. A 31-year-old woman accompanying him in the car also sustained critical injuries, suffering gunshot wounds to her right shoulder, ribs, and arm.
The police data released on Monday morning revealed a total of 21 shooting incidents from Friday evening to Sunday night. Out of the 33 victims shot, seven succumbed to their injuries.
Another incident on Saturday night at a gas station in East Chicago resulted in a man’s death due to a gunshot wound to his head. A second victim survived with non-life-threatening injuries.
On Sunday morning, a mass shooting at Poppy’s Chat Room café on Chicago’s West Side claimed the life of a 19-year-old woman and left four others injured. The victims included two teenage girls, another 19-year-old woman, and a 20-year-old woman.
In the Austin neighborhood, a 16-year-old boy was shot dead on a sidewalk on Sunday afternoon. Three other men were wounded in the same incident. Two suspects reportedly drove up to the group, fired at them, and then fled the scene.
Chicago police are still investigating the shootings, and no arrests have been made so far.