Chicago violence leaves 7 dead

CHICAGO - Seven people, including four men killed in a gang-retaliation attack at a fast-food restaurant and a pregnant woman found with a gunshot wound to the head, were gunned down in three separate incidents within blocks of each other Thursday, police said.

The latest convulsion of violence, which occurred over a 12-hour period in the city’s South Shore neighborhood, comes as Chicago has tallied nearly 900 murders in the past 15 months.

Two people — a 27-yearold man and a 23-year-old woman — were fatally shot as they drove near the South Shore Cultural Center, a popular cultural and recreational spot operated by the city’s park district, about 11 p.m. Thursday.

Police said a black Jeep drove alongside the victim’s van and opened fire, causing the victims’ vehicle to strike a pole. The woman, who was sitting in the front passenger’s seat, suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and the man was shot in the side, according to police. Both were pronounced dead on the scene.

In the quadruple homicide about seven hours earlier, four male victims were found in or around the Nadia Fish and Chicken restaurant, according to police.

Police said a man approached the restaurant and fired shots. When officers arrived at the scene, they found two of the victims inside the restaurant, one victim outside the restaurant and a fourth in a nearby yard.

Two of the victims were identified as brothers Raheem, 19, and Dillon Jackson, 20, and a third was identified as Emmanuel Stokes, 28. The identity of the fourth victim was withheld pending notification of family.

Shortly after noon, police responded to an incident at an apartment about a mile from the restaurant and found Patrice Calvin, 26, dead with a gunshot wound to the head. She was four months pregnant, according to police.

No suspects were in custody in any of the killings. Police declined to comment on whether the shootings were connected.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said investigators believe the shooting at the restaurant was “gang-related retaliation,” but he declined to provide details because of the ongoing investigation.

A team of detectives canvassed the area Thursday evening, looking for private security video from businesses that might have captured portions of the incident, Guglielmi said. The department also beefed up patrols in the neighborhood.

With more than 760 murders last year, Chicago tallied more killings than New York City and Los Angeles combined. It was the highest murder toll for the city in nearly two decades.

In the first three months of 2017, murders have slightly decreased, with the city recording 123 murders through Sunday, compared to 136 at the same time last year, according to police department data.

The bulk of the murders have occurred in a few predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods on the city’s South and West sides. Police department brass say the vast majority of the killings are tied to the gang-fueled drug trade in those areas.

On the campaign trail and during his first two months in the White House, President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city’s leadership for not doing enough to stem the violence. Trump has also made vague threats to order federal intervention.

Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson have called on Trump to help fight the gun violence by sending the city more ATF agents and federal prosecutors.