Residents of three Lake Shore Drive high-rises are demanding answers after bullets have flown through the windows of four condo units over the past three weeks.
Windows of three condos in side-by-side buildings along the 1100 block of North Lake Shore Drive were struck by gunfire early February 11, according to CPD records.
And another window was shattered by a bullet around 3:15 a.m. Thursday. At least one more round struck the outside of the building next door, too.
Cops who were on patrol heard Thursday’s gunfire and 911 callers reported the shots, too. But no shooter was found. Detectives spent Thursday afternoon searching for surveillance cameras that might help them identify the gunman.
“It strains plausibility to say there’s no connection” between the February and March incidents, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said. But, so far, police have no evidence that ties them together.
Condos have been struck on the 29th, 27th, 17th, and 12th floors of the buildings, he said. Other rounds became lodged in the buildings’ facades, according to residents. No injuries have been reported.
Some residents are concerned that the shots have been fired from another building because one round lodged in a bedroom wall with no line-of-sight to the ground.
“I still am of the strong belief that the first [bullet] in our building was a rifle shot from height,” one resident told CWBChicago Thursday. “I took a string from the hole in the window to where the bullet hit over the lady’s headboard. It was a flat line — it was not shot from the ground up.”
In fact, Hopkins said, police think the shooter was standing on the ground when they fired into the air or at the buildings. Cops do not believe the shooters fired from vehicles, he added.
“It’s an active investigation. There’s more than one detective working on it,” Hopkins noted Thursday evening. “Preliminary analysis suggests [the weapon] is a handgun. Possibly a nine [millimeter].”
Police “seem optimistic” that their search for camera footage will yield clues, Hopkins said, adding that detectives may issue a community alert to see if they can drum up clues or helpful video.
