(CHICAGO) — Four people were killed and 14 others wounded in a “deplorable and cowardly” mass shooting in Chicago on Wednesday night, according to the police superintendent.
Around 11 p.m., people were exiting a venue in the River North neighborhood and standing on the sidewalk when a vehicle pulled up and someone in the car opened fire on the crowd, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference.
“They didn’t care who was struck, and in a matter of seconds, they were able to shoot 18 people,” Snelling said.
The venue was targeted, but it’s not clear who specifically was the target, police said.
The victims killed were identified as Leon Andrew Henry, 25; Devonte Terrell Williamson, 23; Taylor Walker, 26; and Aviance King, 27, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Fourteen others were wounded, including several who were hospitalized in critical condition, according to police. The injured victims are all in their 20s and 30s, and 11 of the 14 people hurt are women, police said.
“When I arrived last night it was absolute chaos,” Pastor Donovan Price, who works to help victims of violence, told reporters. “From people screaming, to blood on the streets, to people laying on the streets, a massive police presence. Just horrific. More than I’ve ever seen.”
The hospitals were “almost as chaotic” as the crime scene as people searched for their loved ones, Price said. “It can happen anywhere,” he warned. “It’s devastating.”
A second mass shooting also erupted on Chicago’s far South Side on Wednesday night, leaving four people hospitalized, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
“We are frustrated, but we are also grieving,” Johnson said, adding, “We will not rest until there is full accountability.”
Despite the shootings, murders were down 32% year-to-date in the city as of June 29 and shooting incidents were down 39%, according to Chicago’s crime data.
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