Two people were killed and three others wounded in a mass shooting early Friday in the Loop, in the same area where four people were shot in early May.
The attack occurred during a violent seven-hour span in Chicago during which at least 15 people were shot across the city. Earlier in the evening, a 14-year-old boy was killed and a 13-year-old wounded in Bronzeville.
The violence comes as Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Supt. David Brown are scheduled to to brief reporters Friday on their safety plan for the Fourth of July weekend, which usually is one of the most violent in Chicago.
In the Loop shooting, the five victims were leaving a business in the 400 block of South Wells Street around 1:45 a.m., started arguing with someone they didn’t know and were shot, according to the police.
The victims, whose names have not yet been released:
- One man, 29, was shot in the left side of the head and died after being taken to Stroger Hospital, the police said.
- A 26-year-old man died at Stroger after being shot in the chest.
- A 29-year-old man and a male, whose age was unknown, were shot in the buttocks and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition.
- The fifth victim, a 35-year-old man, was shot twice in the left arm and taken to Northwestern, where he was in good condition.
On May 3, four people were shot near Wells and Van Buren streets when two gunmen opened fire. A man and two women were wounded as they sat inside a Dodge Durango stopped at a red light. A woman crossing the street was also hit by a bullet.
Both attacks happened in the 1st police district, where homicides are up 100% and shootings are up 24% from a year ago.