It was a night marked by the harsh staccato of gunfire on Chicago's Lower West Side, leaving eight people wounded in what has been described as an exchange of gunfire. According to the Chicago Tribune, the incident took place shortly before 12:15 A.M. in the 1300 block of West Hastings Street. Responding officers found multiple victims at the scene, including a 74-year-old woman who was shot in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that two gunmen fled after the attack and were not in custody. Amongst the victims, a 31-year-old woman also suffered a leg wound and is in fair condition at Stroger Hospital. An 18-year-old woman experienced a graze wound to the head and was listed in good condition at the same hospital.
Details indicate that the violence did not discriminate by age or gender. A 19-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to the back and refused medical help. Additionally, a 23-year-old man was shot in the leg and was taken in good condition to Stroger Hospital. A 28-year-old man is in fair condition at Stroger after sustaining two gunshot wounds to the groin.
The attack, which took place in the neighborhood of Little Italy, constituted the first of two mass shootings in the pre-dawn hours. Officials stated that another 36-year-old man was shot in the groin and was admitted to Stroger Hospital in fair condition. The younger victims, two women aged 18 and 19, were also grazed by bullets but refused medical assistance at the scene, adding to the tally of the unrelentingly injured in a night that has become all too common in urban America.
