Chicago mother of murdered son speaks out on gun violence
Pamela Bosley joins 'America Reports'
At least 10 people were shot Wednesday during two separate mass shootings in different parts of Chicago, authorities said, prompting some lawmakers to shake their heads as violent crime in the city continues to soar.
The most recent round of gunplay occurred just before 12:10 p.m. in the Gresham neighborhood, which has seen multiple shootings this year, the Chicago Police Department said.
A police spokeswoman told the Chicago-Sun-Times that a group was on a sidewalk when three gunmen got out a vehicle in an alley and opened fire. Four men and a woman were hit, the police department said.
CHICAGO GUN VIOLENCE LEAVES 40 SHOT, 11 KILLED, INCLUDING RAPPER AMBUSHED AFTER RELEASE FROM JAIL
The woman, 27, was struck in the hip and a 40-year-old man was shot in the face. He remains in critical condition. A 32-year-old man was struck in the lower back and a 50-year-old man was hit on the side. Both were in critical condition.
The last victim, a 36-year-old man, was shot in the ankle and refused treatment at the scene. He later took himself to a hospital.
The shooting happened outside the Target Area DevCorp, a nonprofit anti-violence group, Autry Phillips, the executive director, told Fox News that the victims were not gang members and were standing on a corner where people normally hang out and converse.
"These guys were not carrying guns on the corner like some do. This is not that group," he told Fox News.
Phillips noted that groups like his connect with community members on a personal level.
"Our police are there to serve and protect," Phillips said. "(But) They can't sit with a guy for two or three hours and help him understand why he shouldn't pick that gun up and go and retaliate."
The shooting came hours after another on the city's West Side in which four women and a man were injured just after midnight, according to police data. The group was standing outside when they were approached by a male who began firing, police said. Two women, ages 23 and 29, were both shot in the buttocks.
An 18-year-old woman was shot in the left leg and another female, 34, was shot in the thigh and refused to go to the hospital.
A man, 25, was shot once in each leg. All were expected to survive. No arrests have been made in either shooting. Fox News has reached out to Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office but did not immediately hear back.
There have been 1,688 shootings in Chicago this year through Sunday, an 11% percent jump from the same time frame last year, according to police figures.
Alderman Anthony Napolitano blamed Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx for refusing to prosecute certain suspected criminals and lawmakers for moving forward with efforts to slash the police budget amid the crime surge.
"There's a handful of us that want to just fix the problem," he told Fox News. "The rest are playing the political game.
"This is just backing through party affiliation to release more people from jail," added Napolitano, who represents the city's 41st ward. "The alternative to releasing… is probably the most astronomical crime spike, if not in just the city of Chicago, but in the entire United States."
Alderman Raymond Lopez, an alderman for Chicago's 15th ward and a frequent critic of Lightfoot, put the blame on her, saying she is not up to the task of keeping residents safe.
"The carnage continues in our beloved city as yet another mass shooting occurs in the streets of Lightfoot’s Chicago," he told Fox News. "She has no plan to keep Chicagoans safe, arrogantly refusing to consider alternatives after her policies continue to fail our residents. Her politics and pride are killing Chicagoans."
Napolitano also noted that Lightfoot, a Democrat, rejected an offer from then-President Trump to send federal agents to the city last year to assist local law enforcement in stopping the rising crime surge. The mayor met with President Joe Biden earlier this month following a bloody Fourth of July weekend in which more than 100 people were shot and 19 were killed.
"Now she tells the guy who's under the blue flag of the Democratic party ‘Yes, you can come here… and I will take your federal help and yes I do need federal help,’" he said.
Lightfoot refused Trump's help "because she did not want to make him look good," Napolitano said.
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Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown met with Biden earlier in the week and other law enforcement leaders across the nation to discuss strategies on how to combat the rise in violent crime many cities are grappling with.
Chicago had 284 murders as of Sunday. Lopez previously told Fox News the city was on pace to have 800 killings by the end of 2021.
The largest mass shooting in the city this year occurred on March 14 when 15 people were shot – two fatally – during a party. Last year, another 15 people were shot outside a Gresham funeral home but no one died.
In an effort to combat the gun violence, Napolitano on Wednesday said he will be introducing an ordinance "that I hope will curb gang violence" that Foxx "refuses to address."
The legislation will add on fines for illegal possession of a firearm, looting, graffiti and acting within a mob along with enhanced penalties for other offenses.
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