CHICAGO — A man was shot while riding his bicycle on the Near North Side overnight, in the same spot where people were shot in each of the past two summers. No arrests have been made.
Chicago police said the 29-year-old was biking in the 600 block of West Scott around 12:14 a.m. when he heard gunfire and realized he had been shot. He suffered two gunshot wounds to his thigh and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition.
Cops who were outside the nearby 18th District police station heard the gunfire and saw a Dodge Charger speed away from the scene. They said a large group was gathered in the parking lot at Skinner North Classical School at the time of the shooting.
One officer said they found “at least” 50 shell casings and blood in the school’s parking lot.
In August 2021, two men were shot after more than 40 rounds were fired in essentially the same location. A 24-year-old woman was shot in the same place while standing outside her car on July 10, 2022.
But the number of shootings reported on the Near North Side is down sharply this year. Sunday’s victim is the 12th person shot in the community area in 2023. That includes an off-duty cop from Michigan who accidentally shot himself and a companion while handling a firearm in a River North hotel room.
By comparison, 44 people had been shot on the Near North Side at this point last year. That total included four people injured in a mass shooting in the 400 block of North State and nine people shot in a single incident outside the Chicago-State Red Line station.
The area had 18 shooting victims at this point in 2021 and 17 as of this date in 2020, including four injured in a single incident in the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue.
There were 23 shooting victims as of this date in 2019, including four shot during one event in the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue and three shot in Stanton Park, just steps from where today’s shooting occurred.