15 People Wounded In Mass Shooting On South Side: Police

CHICAGO, IL – Fifteen people outside a South Side funeral home were shot and wounded after dozens of rounds were fired Tuesday evening, police said.

The victims — 9 women and 5 men between the ages of 21 and 65 — were taken to five area hospitals. Two victims remain in critical condition. The rest were in good condition and expected to survive their injuries. One woman suffered a graze wound and was treated at the scene, police said.

The shooting took place around 6:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of W. 79th St. in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

Police said three men – two of them shooters — fired shots from a stolen black Chevy Malibu. People outside the funeral home returned fire. About 60 shell casings were found at the scene, police said.

Shots continued to be fired from the Malibu as it turned north from 79th onto Carpenter Street, and crashed halfway down the block. People in the car fled on foot. One person of interest is in custody, police said.

Chief of detectives Brendan Deenihan said Tuesday's mass shooting is related to an ongoing gang conflict. The Sun-Times reported the funeral was for Donnie Weathersby, a 31-year-old man killed in a gang-related shooting near 74th and Stewart Avenue last week. Police said they believe Weathersby's slaying was retaliation for an earlier gang-related murder in Englewood.

Deenihan said video surveillance of Tuesday's mass shooting obtained by police doesn't provide enough detail to identify the shooters and individuals involved in the ongoing gang conflict have not cooperated with investigators.

"We're asking the community, 'Can we kind of get that information help the detectives?' Becasue the individuals in this tit-for-tat have no interest in cooperating. They just want to go the next shooting incident," he said.

Police Supt. David Brown said investigators believe witnesses at the funeral may know who the shooters are and asked people to contact detectives or submit an anonymous tip with information that could help lead to arrests.

Tuesday's mass shooting comes as a consistent spike in street violence has again put Chicago in a negative national spotlight. The increase in violent crime has prompted Brown to create a citywide anti-violence unit, and the federal government's expected deployment of additional federal law enforcement agents in attempt to stem violence.

On Tuesday, Brown blamed the spike on Chicago's pervasive street game problem which he says includes 117,000 gang members, 55 major gangs, 747 factions of those gangs and about 2,500 cliques within those factions that result in hundreds of conflicts every day, perpetuating a deadly cycle of bloodshed.

"The cycle of violence in Chicago — someone gets shot, which prompt someone else to pick up a gun. This same cycle of violence repeats itself over and over and over, again. This cycle is fueled by street gangs, guns and drugs. In the case of the funeral shooting, rival factions repeated this cycle," Brown said.

"Put your guns down. We can't keep meting out violence with violence. An eye for an eye makes us both blind. It's destroying our families and perpetuates this endless cycle of gun violence night after night. A bullet for a bullet is killing these families, these neighborhoods."

Tuesday's shooting drew the attention of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who wrote in a series of tweets that too many guns are on the tweets and that the incident was yet another senseless act of violence on Chicago's streets. She said that the responsible parties need to be held accountable and asked anyone with information to contact the Chicago Police Department's tip line.

Carter indicated that a Chicago Police vehicle had been assigned to the funeral by the district commander, but would not specify why the police presence was ordered at the scene. Asked if police had been warned that there may be an issue with people attending the funeral, Carter said those details are currently being investigated. He declined to identify who the funeral was for and said that the motive for the shooting is still being investigated.

One person of interest is in custody, Carter said, adding that police will continue to canvass the area Tuesday night and Wednesday. Police have not indicated how many suspects were involved in the shooting.

- Mark Konkol contributed to this report.