CHICAGO — A 19-year-old woman was shot Monday evening inside Willye White Park on the city’s Far North Side, Chicago police said. She is the third person shot in the 1600 block of West Howard since November.
The woman was with a group of people when someone fired shots around 10:18 p.m., according to a CPD media statement. She was taken to St. Francis Hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds to her chest and abdomen.
The victim, a Northwestern University student, was walking through the park with a companion when the shots were fired, Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) said in a Facebook post. They were not the intended targets, according to Hadden.
Police did not release any information about the suspects. Officers said they found about a dozen shell casings in the park.
The woman is the 14th person shot in Rogers Park this year, up from 12 victims at this point last year, four of which were determined to be self-defense. A medical examiner ruling is still pending in one of this year’s cases. Rogers Park had ten shooting victims as of this date in 2021, according to city records.
Two other shootings have been reported in the 1600 block of West Howard since late last year.
On November 9, a 48-year-old man was shot in the foot as he stood on a sidewalk near Willye White Park. Police said a gunmanapproachedo the victim, fired shots, and fled the scene. Initial indications from the scene were that the victim knew the gunman.
On February 13, a 31-year-old man was shot in a drive-by across the street from the park. The victim was walking when a gunman rolled up in a dark vehicle and fired shots from the car, striking the man in his left calf, police said at the time.
Among other recent shootings in the neighborhood:
- A 28-year-old man was critically injured by a gunman at Loyola Park on April 13. Police said a dark sedan pulled into the park’s parking lot at Sheridan and Touhy and someone opened fire on the victim from the car.
- Also on April 13, a 33-year-old man was shot in the foot when a drive-by gunman opened fire in the 1400 block of West Arthur.
- On April 6, a 33-year-old man was shot in the 7600 block of North Sheridan. Police said the man was shot while walking, but a witness reported that the man was hiding behind a dumpster when a woman shot him.
- A 20-year-old woman received a graze wound to her back while walking up the stairs of an apartment building in the 1300 block of West Columbia on March 29.
- A 23-year-old man was shot in the 1500 block of West Jonquil Terrace on March 26.
- A 57-year-old man was shot while sitting in a car in the 7300 block of North Greenview on March 25.
- Quentin Pruett, 45, of Madison, Wisconsin, was shot and killed during a home invasion in the 7600 block of North Sheridan on March 21. His family believes he was not the intended target.
- On March 3, a 37-year-old man was found fatally shot inside an apartment in the 7500 block of North Damen. Police initially detained a woman inside the apartment, but she was later released. Investigators did not find a weapon at the scene, and the medical examiner’s office has not determined the cause and manner of the man’s death.
Shooting victims in Rogers Park as of May 23 annually:
2010 — 5
2011 — 7
2012 — 15
2013 — 7
2014 — 17
2015 — 12
2016 — 11
2017 — 4
2018 — 9
2019 — 1
2020 — 6
2021 — 10
2022 — 12
2023 — 14* – includes one case still pending at the medical examiner’s office.