A man is recovering after being shot along the lakefront in Lakeview early Sunday morning. The victim was near the tennis courts in the 3700 block of North Recreation Drive when someone opened fire, striking him in both thighs around 3:40 a.m., according to preliminary information gathered from police sources.
A CPD statement, which incorrectly said the shooting occurred at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, said the victim was “uncooperative in providing details of the incident to responding officers.” The department also said it had not determined the man’s age but reported that he was in good condition.
A law enforcement source said the victim is known to have gang affiliations. He is the second person shot in Lakeview this year, compared to one shooting victim at this point last year. However, the total remains well below the levels seen during several recent years.
Police had been patrolling Recreation Drive and the lakefront clock tower area from late Saturday night until about 1 a.m. Sunday because large crowds had gathered there.
Before Lakeview’s gentrification, the area was a popular summer gathering spot where gang clashes were common. Gang graffiti regularly covered portions of the lakefront seawall until about a decade ago. In fact, the shooting occurred at almost exactly the same spot where two people were shot on July 6, 2014. Another shooting happened in the same area on June 11, 2016. And a 23-year-old man was shot about 150 feet south of the clock tower early on July 30, 2016
After gang-related shootings began increasing, the local police district periodically closed Recreation Drive to vehicle traffic on warm-weather weekends and holidays in an effort to reduce violence. The most recent shooting in that section of the lakefront occurred on August 21, 2022. In October 2024, two people were shot, one fatally, a couple of blocks south in the 3500 block of North Belmont Harbor Drive. The case remains unsolved.
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