A drive-by gunman opened fire on a crowd, injuring seven people and leaving at least 50 shell casings in the street near St. Sabina Church early Saturday. Chicago police tried for more than an hour to get the crowd to break up before the shooting occurred.
Officers went to the 7800 block of South Throop around 12:30 a.m. to disperse a large crowd that had gathered in the area, dispatch records show. Despite repeated requests and orders to leave, the crowd remained largely noncompliant for over an hour.
At 1:44 a.m., a CPD supervisor ordered cops to start making arrests.
“No more breaks. No more anything. Lock them up,” he instructed the officers. “There’s no more asking them nicely. That is done. We are over with that. They are just staring at you with your lights on and just not caring at this point.”
Minutes later, a gunman opened fire on the crowd from a passing vehicle, according to a CPD statement. The victims were:
- A 17-year-old boy shot in the leg, in fair condition at Christ Hospital
- A 17-year-old boy shot in the back and leg, in fair condition at Holy Cross Hospital
- A 17-year-old boy shot in the arm, in fair condition at the University of Chicago Hospital
- An 18-year-old man shot in the leg, in good condition at Christ Hospital
- An 18-year-old man shot in the leg and chest, in serious condition at Little Company of Mary Hospital
- An 18-year-old man shot in the legs and buttocks, in fair condition at the University of Chicago Hospital
- A 19-year-old man shot in the leg and arm, in fair condition at the University of Chicago Hospital
Police did not describe the shooter or the vehicle from which he opened fire. An officer at the scene estimated there were at least fifty shell casings littered along a half-block of 78th Street alongside St. Sabina Academy.
St. Sabina’s congregation is led by Fr. Michael Pfleger, who is frequently outspoken on matters of criminal justice and violence in Chicago. The church regularly hosts CPD gun turn-in days, allowing the public to surrender firearms in exchange for gift cards or other compensation.
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