A 19-year-old was killed and four others were wounded in three separate shootings along Western Avenue on Chicago's Southwest Side on Thursday night, turning a busy corridor into an active crime scene for hours. Police found the teen inside a parked car in a fast food parking lot and he was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The scenes unfolded over roughly three hours as detectives tried to determine whether the attacks were connected.
Three scenes along Western in one night
Officers were called just after 10:30 p.m. to the 5800 block of South Western Avenue, where investigators say someone walked up to a parked car and opened fire. A 19-year-old man suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Hospital. Two other victims, a 41-year-old man and a 22-year-old man, were taken to Christ Medical Center in serious condition. Earlier that night, police say two people approached a parked car in the 7900 block of South Western Avenue and fired, and a 24-year-old man later drove himself to a hospital with an arm wound. A separate shooting around 7:40 p.m. in the 9200 block left a 57-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the neck. No arrests have been announced and investigators have not confirmed whether the incidents are linked, according to CBS Chicago.
Another recent attack on the corridor
The Jan. 9 violence follows a drive-by ambush on Western Avenue in Brighton Park earlier in the week that left two people wounded, underscoring how different stretches of the long north–south corridor have been hit in recent days. That earlier incident was detailed in a report on a drive turning bloody, which noted that Area Four detectives were investigating and asking for tips and surveillance video.
Investigation ongoing
Chicago police say Area detectives are investigating all three scenes and have not publicly tied them together. Hospitals listed multiple victims in serious condition, while the 24-year-old who self-transported was reported in good condition, per CBS Chicago.
