A tragic burst of gunfire shattered the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago, leaving a young woman dead and a man critically injured. The incident unfolded just before 5 p.m. Friday in an alley on the 3800 block of West Jackson Boulevard, and it did not spare the sorrow, nor the questions, that now hang over a community too often acquainted with such violence.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the victims were targeted by assailants in a white SUV, and a white sedan, who opened fire without a moment's hesitation. The woman, age 20, was struck in the chest and back – her wounds proving fatal even as she was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital where she, was pronounced dead. The accompanying man, 19, found himself also fighting for his life after a bullet struck his back and left him in critical condition at the same hospital.
At the scene, detectives sketched the barest outlines of an investigation with few leads and no arrests, as the perpetrators in their elusive white vehicles disappeared, evaporating into the vast grid of the city. This latest eruption of gunfire has brought the issue of gun violence back into the glaring spotlight, an unwelcome yet familiar narrative for the residents of Chicago's West Side.
The FOX 32 Chicago reports detail that the shooting took place as the victims were traveling westbound in an alley, punctuating the already tense environment with the resounding crack of gunfire. The victims' wounds spoke a brutal language of intention, with the woman sustaining two gunshot wounds to the chest, and one to the back; her male companion's single shot to the back suggesting a similarly grim fate.
As of now, Chicago's law enforcement has not taken any suspects into custody, and there seems to be a palpable sense of frustration as the community awaits answers. The investigation remains very much active, leaving room for hope that justice may yet prevail for the two young individuals whose lives have been irrevocably altered by the unforgiving reality of urban violence.
