3 Chicago Gangs Plot to Shoot Cops: CPD

CHICAGO, IL — Leaders of three of the city’s most notorious gangs met recently to talk about plans to shoot police officers in the city in response to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Paul O’Neal by Chicago police, authorities say.

A Chicago police alert informed officers citywide of the plan concocted by the Vice Lords, Black Disciples and Four Corner Hustlers, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. All three gangs have deep roots on the city’s West Side.

Police officers have been informed to “limit interactions and visibility” after the gang meeting occurred Thursday night, a source told the Sun-Times. All three gangs reportedly agreed to provide weapons to carry out the crimes against police.

The alleged gang meeting occurred one night before several videos were released by the city’s Independent Police Review Authority showing the events that led up to the shooting of O’Neal, who was a suspect in a car theft case out of west suburban Bolingbrook.

Video showed the teen’s car nearly sideswiping a police vehicle and officers returning with gunfire. The shot that killed O’Neal was not captured on any camera.

The alleged gang plot is the latest in a contentious rift between police and minorities, a rift that is not new, but one that has escalated this year.

The entire nation remains on edge from events earlier this summer. Controversial police shootings of black suspects in Louisiana and Minnesota and a terrorist attack that killed six police officers in Dallas collectively broke the hearts of just about everyone in America.

Police shootings — like the one involving O'Neal less than two weeks ago — are usually met with some form of protests. In Chicago, so far, they have been peaceful.

Still, police have been on edge not only due to the public outcry but as they find themselves at the center of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times