No one was injured after a fire broke out in an apartment Thursday night in Washington Park on the South Side.
Firefighters and police officers responded to a call of a blaze at a three-story apartment building about 11:20 p.m. in the 5100 block of South Michigan Avenue, Chicago police said.
A family of seven, including two juvelines, were able to safely exit their first-floor apartment, police said. A couple who lived on the second floor got out safely.
No injuries were reported.
The Chicago Fire Department are investigating the cause of the fire.
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have never been closer to an NBA title.
Devin Booker scored 31 points, Chris Paul had 23 and the Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-108 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 series lead.
The Suns surged ahead late in the first half, withstood Giannis Antetokounmpo’s all-around effort to bring the Bucks back, and walked off winners again as fans swung orange rally towels all around them.
Antetokounmpo had 42 points and 12 rebounds in his second game back after missing two games because of a hyperextended left knee.
The Suns never even had a lead in the NBA Finals until their 118-105 victory in Game 1. They dropped the first two games in both 1976 and 1993, their only other appearances, and didn’t win more than two games in either series.
They’ve already got two this time and will go after a third Sunday in Milwaukee, which will host the NBA Finals for the first time since 1974.
“We know it gets rowdy in Milwaukee, but I think we’re ready for it,” Booker said.
Booker made seven 3-pointers and the Suns went 20 for 40 behind the arc. Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, and Paul finished with eight assists.
Jrue Holiday played more aggressively but didn’t shoot a whole lot better than in Game 1, scoring 17 points but hitting only 7 for 21. Khris Middleton was 5 for 16, forcing Antetokounmpo to carry an even heavier load on his sore left leg.
It adds up to the Bucks having to overcome a 2-0 deficit for the second time this postseason. They did it against the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but had some help when first James Harden and then Kyrie Irving were injured.
Now they are facing a Suns team loaded with weapons all over the lineup, and showed off all of them in the prettiest play of this series.
They whipped the ball all around the perimeter for the final basket of the first half. It went from Paul to Booker to Jae Crowder to Bridges, back to Crowder to Paul, then over to Crowder and once again Bridge. He then finally fed it inside to Deandre Ayton, who scored while being fouled with 14.9 seconds left for a 56-45 lead at the break.
The Bucks could only dream of having that many guys involved. Antetokounmpo’s 15 field goals were more than twice as many as any other Milwaukee player.
Phoenix opened a 65-50 lead with a good start to the third, but Antetokounmpo — and pretty much only Antetokounmpo — kept the game from getting away from the Bucks. He scored 20 of the Bucks’ 33 points in the third, the first 20-point period in the finals since Michael Jordan against the Suns in 1993.
Milwaukee got it all the way down to six in the fourth, but Paul nailed a 3-pointer and Bridges had a basket to quickly push the lead back to double digits.
Milwaukee outscored Phoenix 20-0 in the paint in the first quarter, but eight of the Suns’ nine baskets were 3-pointers and they were behind just 29-26.
Only two fouls — both on the Suns — were called in a clean quarter. Antetokounmpo took the only two free throws, making one and shooting an airball on the second as fans continued counting, as they have in Bucks’ road games during the playoffs to show that he often doesn’t appear to shoot them within the allotted 10 seconds.
It was tied at 41 with just under five minutes left in the half before the Suns surged ahead with precision offense and some shutdown defense. They finished with a 15-4 run, the Bucks managing just a pair of baskets by Antetokounmpo.
He tried to fire up his teammates with some screaming on the bench during a timeout, but he couldn’t put the ball into the basket for them. The Bucks were a dismal 6 for 25 in the period, missing 10 of their 12 3-point tries.
TIP-INS
Bucks: Middleton finished with 11 points. … Holiday was 4 for 14 in Game 1. … Antetokounmpo had his 13th game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in this postseason. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had 15 in 1974 and 14 in 1971, had more for the Bucks.
Suns: Booker has 490 points, second-most for any player in his first postseason. Rick Barry scored 521 in 1967. .. The Suns are 14-4 in this postseason.
COIN TOSS
Abdul-Jabbar had some fun with a video on social media calling to mind the important shared history between the teams who came into the NBA together in 1968. The Bucks won a coin toss in 1969 that allowed them to select the future Hall of Famer with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
In the video, Abdul-Jabbar, wearing a Milwaukee No. 33 T-shirt, flips a coin.
“Bucks in 6,” he then said. “Fear the Deer.”
CROWDER COMEBACK
Crowder had 11 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 4 for 8. He missed all eight attempts in Game 1.
As we prepare for another Wisconsin camping weekend there’s an excitement that can’t be denied, rain or shine! From discovering our site to the placement of the tent to the setup, and that first, ice-cooled beer!
It feels like a million years since The Go! Team has released music, but “World Remember Me Now” brings back lots of memories, making “Junior Kickstart” feel like yesterday. “World” will get you ready for the full-length they are dropping today called Get Up Sequences Part One.
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The quarantine made new music feel more special. Seeing Caveman grow exponentially during Covid season was one of the highlights. They’ve done everything from the spacey jams of “Like Me” to the quaint pop of “River.” They are definitely one of the newer bands you need to spend time with.
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I finally broke down and ordered a copy of Glowing In The Dark, the best work yet from Django Django. Their latest single “Say Something” is more of a mellow side, not often shown by the band, and it continues to grow on me. Unfortunately, this isn’t on their latest album, so I’m expecting a deluxe version.
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Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth (Primal Scream and Savages vocalists) have released a new single “Remember We Were Lovers.” This is their second song of the project and feels like they are actually creating a sound.
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Rap seems really bad these days. The art of storytelling is lost. Drake is still one of my favorites and one of the best in the game. Even though we have to wait for his verse until the end of “Wasting Time,” the rhymes are well worth it.
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“Contact High” is the latest release from We Are Scientists and they strike gold with soaring harmonies and big hooks. This is one of the best songs they have released in years and will be available on their new album Huffy, due out on October 8th. The new album will include recent singles ‘Fault Lines’ and ‘I Cut My Own Hair’.
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Your Jazz Cut Of The Week is now my latest addiction, marking the first time I have allowed an artist to hold that sacred spot on Release Radar for two weeks in a row. Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans owned my life over the 4th of July weekend, as it did the week leading up to it. I played it at night while cooking for the masses. I changed moods at midnight, winding down from ‘Murica playlists, and I played it early mornings while I was making coffee. Need I note that no one else seems to make coffee? Or they wait for me to get up early and put that pot on the grill?
Anyway, Evans will tickle the ivory, and you’ll feel all the better getting up and beginning a new day, for you, and for all the people needing that splendid dose of caffeine.
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There’s just a great vibe on that first album that is hard to deny. I’m pondering ordering this career-spanning collection of five discs, but this time, on CD?
This month, Netflix released FEAR STREET, a horror trilogy based on R.L. Stine’s horror series about the sinister history of a little town called Shadyside. They’re hosting virtual screenings in advance of each film’s release. Once fans enter to obtain their “Fear Pass,” they are granted access to screening links for watching the films before they show up on Netflix.
The first film is currently available on Netflix. Part 2 opens tomorrow, and the third releases on July 16th. The Fear Pass for FEAR STREET PART 3: 1666 will allow fans to see it on Wednesday, July 14th. The virtual screenings are timed to coincide with the LA premieres. Additionally, each screening link will be active for a certain number of hours.
The day of the screening (July 14th, 2021), Fear Pass winners will be sent the Indee.TV screening link. Please be sure to enter before July 12th!
To enter to win the advance Fear Pass for FEAR STREET PART 3: 1666 on July 14th, please fill out the form HERE.
FEAR STREET PART1: 1994 (On Netflix now) – A circle of teenagers accidentally encounter the ancient evil responsible for a series of brutal murders that have plagued their town for over 300 years. Welcome to Shadyside.
FEAR STREET PART 2: 1978 (On Netflix this Friday) – Shadyside, 1978. School’s out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival.
FEAR STREET PART 3: 1666 (On Netflix July 16th) – The origins of Sarah Fier’s curse are finally revealed as history comes full circle on a night that changes the lives of Shadysiders forever.
Horror movie fanatic. Sculptor of oddities. Owner of Chicago Creepster Yahoo!, festival volunteer, writer, artist, social media freelance. Officially a biomechanical Frankenlady. Doing what I can to support our spooky community.
Two people were shot, one critically, near Benito Juarez Community Academy in Pilsen about an hour before students were released for the day Thursday afternoon.
Lea este articulo en espanol en La Voz Chicago, un servicio presentado por AARP Chicago.
A 16-year-old boy and a 34-year-old woman were in the 2100 block of South Ashland Avenue when someone approached and opened fire about 12:10 p.m, Chicago police said.
The woman was hit in the neck and taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said. The teen was shot in the leg and was in good condition at the hospital.
The 16-year-old boy is a student at Benito Juarez Community Academy, though he was not participating in any programs Thursday, said Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, whose 25th Ward includes the area where the shooting happened.
Sigcho-Lopez said he was told by police officials that there was a fight in the area when a vehicle driving along Ashland Avenue stopped, and individuals in that vehicle started shooting. He did not know if the teen was a bystander or had been involved in the fight.
About an hour after the shooting, cars lined up as students were released from the school. Groups of students huddled together near the bus stops on Cermak.
According to witnesses, gunfire erupted after two women were seen fighting outside the school and a car pulled up near Ashland Avenue and Cermak.
“Kill that (expletive),” a man was heard shouting. Another witness heard someone say, “Shoot her.”
A woman who had been waiting for the bus said she ran south on Ashland when the car pulled up next to the school’s outdoor space.
“I started running,” said the woman, 50, who did not want her name used. “When I heard the first shot, I looked back and I saw her fall to the ground.”
Another woman, 40, said she was walking near the area when she saw the car pull up and heard someone say, “Shoot her.”
“I just froze,” she said. “I don’t remember anything.”
The women, who were interviewed separately, both said someone attempted to perform CPR on the woman until paramedics arrived. The car involved in the shooting took off, according to the witnesses.
The 50-year-old woman said she asked if the woman who had been shot would make it. She was told they had found a heartbeat. “They said it ain’t looking good,” she said.
A mother and daughter waited near the scene of the shooting. The mother had come to pick up the 14-year-old from school. She was participating in a program for freshman and sophomore students.
“It’s ugly because there are children who come here alone,” the mother said in Spanish. The mother asked not to be identified.
Patricia Dominguez, 69, of Pilsen, walked her dog Tsipeni not far from the scene. She didn’t see the shooting, but she said it broke her heart to hear about it.
“Of course with the gentrification, it’s changing but we are still reminded that this is the barrio and sometimes they don’t let us forget that,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez, who is an artist and author of children’s books, said more arts and sports programs for children are needed to help curb violence in Chicago. She said that’s why she sponsors Benito Juarez’s girls soccer team.
“That’s what I feel is going to really, really help,” Dominguez said.
Sigcho-Lopez said Thursday that the strategies the city has been using to tackle violence aren’t working or are misguided. He said there needs to be more investment in social services that provides mental health programs for teens along with more arts programs. He also said more funding needs to allocated toward street outreach efforts.
“The issue here is we don’t have funding or support from the city,” Sigcho-Lopez said.
He said Mayor Lori Lightfoot needs to move quicker to disperse the $1.9 billion in coronavirus relief funds the city is expected to receive to address the root causes of violence.
“It’s an emergency,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “I don’t know what else needs to happen for the mayor to listen to the community.”
Elvia Malagon’s reporting on social justice and income inequality is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.
A Chicago Public Schools principal who, along with her 6-year-old daughter, was shot over the 4th of July weekend is expected to make a full recovery, the district said in a letter to her school community this week.
Principal Katina Manuel of Whistler Elementary on the Far South Side was at a cookout with family and friends when, toward the end of the gathering at 1 a.m. Monday, an SUV drove by and opened fire on the group of 50 people.
Manuel was hit in the side with the bullet exiting her back, and her daughter was struck in her hand, Manuel’s father told the Sun-Times in an interview. The principal was treated for her wound at Roseland Hospital, and her daughter was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital and later released.
“Principal Manuel was injured over the weekend off campus in a non-school related event, and is currently resting and recovering,” CPS official Daniel Perry wrote to families in an email. “Principal Manuel is expected to make a full recovery, and I ask that we all respect her privacy during this time until she returns.
“I know the whole Whistler community is deeply concerned for Principal Manuel, and I want to assure you that I and [district] staff will be available to support Whistler staff and students during this time. If your child is worried and needs extra support right now, I encourage you to reach out.”
Whistler, in the West Pullman neighborhood, enrolls 276 students.
Welcome to our highlights for concerts, festivals and live music in Chicago. From free shows at Millennium Park to large festivals like Ravinia and Lollapalooza, and intimate shows at small local venues, our guide has all the latest music entertainment. Bookmark this page and check back for updates on concerts and events.
DJ TraxmanCourtesy Chicago Park District
House City Series
What: The Departments of Cultural Affairs and Special Event’s tribute to house music continues with House City, a new series of free events popping up throughout the summer in the neighborhoods that helped create the house music genre over 35 years ago.
When/Where: Event dates and communities are July 8 in Austin, July 16 in North Lawndale, July 23 in South Shore, July 31 on the Southeast Side, Aug. 14 in Humboldt Park, Aug. 28 in Englewood, Aug. 29 in Lakeview, Sept. 12 in South Shore and Sept.19 in Bronzeville. DJs playing include Traxman, Lori Branch, Deeon, Elbert Philips, Duane Powell and more.
What: Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra presents HerStory: Woodwind Quintets by Female Composers, a concert performed by IPO principal players Cynthia Fudala (flute), Naomi Bensdorf Frisch (oboe), Trevor O’Riordan (clarinet), Erin Kozakis (bassoon) and Lee Shirer (horn). The program includes Valerie Coleman’s “Afro-Cuban Concerto,” Hedwige Chretien’s “Quintet” and Barbara Harbach’s “Freeing the Caged Bird,” a four-movement tribute inspired by the literary works of four native St. Louis women who struggled to give voice to their creativity. Stilian Kirov conducts.
When: At 6:15 and 7:45 p.m. July 14
Where: Olympia Fields Country Club, 2800 Country Club Dr., Olympia Fields
What: The Green Mill has reopened and that means the return of Chris Foreman, a Friday night fixture at the popular jazz club. Foreman, a jazz organist blind since birth, is a master on the Hammond B3 and regarded as Chicago’s best. His playing is a blend of blues-gospel and jazz honed in his professional experience, which has included work with Hank Crawford, Albert Collins, Bernard Purdie, The Deep Blue Organ Trio and The Mighty Blue Kings.
Cabaret Concert: Felicia P. Fields and E. Faye Butler
What: Two dynamic stage divas — Felicia P. Fields and E. Faye Butler — star in “Lettin’ the Good Times Roll,” a cabaret concert of jazz, blues, gospel and show tunes.
When: 7:30 p.m. July 9-10.
Where: The parking lot of North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie.
What: The Ravinia Festival, the oldest outdoor music festival in the country, returns with reduced capacity. As usual, the lineup is a varied slate of music from classical to pop, jazz and rock. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra returns for a six-week run with conductor Marin Alsop leading seven concerts in her first season as Ravinia’s chief conductor. Also on the roster are: Garrick Ohlsson,Cynthia Erivo, Counting Crows, Kurt Elling, Brian McKnight, John Hiatt and the Jerry Douglas Band, The Roots, John Legend, Madeleine Peyroux, Midori, Joshua Bell, Pinchas Zukerman, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Joffrey Ballet.
Independence Day concerts will kick off the Grant Park Music Festival season.Patrick Pyszka
What: The Grant Park Music Festival will be fully open for capacity audiences in the seated area and the lawn when it returns. The season opener is an Independence Day salute at 6:30 p.m. July 2-3 with performances of works by John Williams, Scott Joplin, Robert Lowden, Florence Price, Leonard Bernstein, George Walker and of course Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” and John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Carlos Kalmar and Christopher Bell conduct.
When: July 2-Aug. 21
Where: Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Michigan and Randolph.
Denise La Grassa Courtesy of Denise La Grassa Music
What: Singer, songwriter and keyboardist Denise La Grassa performs an evening of original jazz accompanied by guitarist John Kregor with visual artist Sholo (Cheryl Beverly) who, inspired by the song lyrics, paints during the performance. La Grassa unveils new songs written through the eyes of Lady Liberty in a 21st century marked by the confusion over the role of American democracy and original identity.
Adrian Dunn will conduct the Chicago Philharmonic in “Redemption,” June 29-Aug. 27.Courtesy of AdrianDunn.com
What: Chicago Philharmonic returns with a three-concert outdoor chamber series at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts parking lot, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie. The opening performance at 7 p.m. June 27 is “Chicago Phil Brass: Brass with Sass” and features Edward Elgar’s “Chanson du Matin,” Astor Piazzolla’s “Oblivion,” Fats Waller’s “That’s a Plenty,” Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” and more. There’s also a free streaming concert “Redemption” (June 29-Aug. 27), which features spirituals and gospel songs conducted by Adrian Dunn.
What: Summer Nights with Northlight is a cabaret series held at Evanston restaurants to benefit Northlight Theatre. The performers are Alexis J. Roston and Kelvin Roston Jr. (June 10, Good to Go Jamaican, 711 W. Howard), Linda Solotaire (July 27, Sketchbook Brewing Company, 4901 Main, Skokie) and Heidi Kettenring (Aug. 24, Peckish Pig, 623 W. Howard).
When: Performances times are 6 p.m.
Tickets: $60 includes light dinner and select drinks. Visit northlight.org.
Tuesdays on the Terrace
“Tuesdays on the Terrace” at the MCA in Chicago.Copyright MCA
When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays June 1-Aug. 31
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art’s outdoor sculpture garden, 220 E. Chicago
What: Tuesdays on the Terrace returns to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s outdoor sculpture garden. The popular jazz concert series features an array of Chicago jazz musiciansFirst up on June 1 is Alexis Lombre’s Ancestral Awakenings. Free with advance reservations. Visit mcachicago.org.
Labyrinth Arts and Performance Collective
What: Labyrinth Arts and Performance Collectivepresents “Emerge,” a new cabaret series featuring music, drag performance, comedy and spoken word.
What: Lollapalooza returns to Grant Park July 29-Aug. 1 with Foo Fighters, Post Malone, Tyler, the Creator, Miley Cyrus, Dababy, Marchmello, Journey, Megan Thee Stallion, Roddy Ricch, Kaytranada and more. $375+/festival pass. Visit lollapalooza.com.
Pitchfork Music Festival
When: Sept. 10-12
Where: Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph
What: The Pitchfork Music Festival returns to Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph. Performers include Erykah Badu Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, The Fiery Furnaces, Angel Olsen, Kim Gordon Waxahatchee, Flying Lotus, Thundercat and more.
When Pat Curry spotted bite-sized wood-fire rotisserie chicken with portabello mushroom at her local Costco in early June, she felt “giddy.” After a 14-month hiatus, free samples were back.
“It was one of the markers that told me that we turned a corner,” said the 60-year-old who lives in Augusta, Georgia. “It’s the little things that you do that were taken away, and now they’re back.”
When the pandemic was declared in March 2020, retailers worried about the potential spread of the coronavirus, so they cut off free sampling of everything from food to makeup to toys.
Now, with vaccinations rolling out and the threat of COVID-19 easing in the United States, stores are feeling confident enough to revive the longstanding tradition.
For customers, sampling makes it fun to shop and discover new items — not to mention getting all the freebies. For retailers, they’re critical tools to keep shoppers coming back and battle against online retailers like Amazon.
Food sampling converts browsers into buyers at a 20% higher rate than if customers weren’t allowed to test, says NPD Group Inc., a market research firm. The conversion rate is 30% higher when beauty products are sampled.
“Sampling is critical,” said Marshal Cohen, NPD’s chief industry analyst. “Impulse alone drives 25% of the retail business.”
Jake Tavello, a senior vice president at Stew Leonard’s, said promoting new items had been challenging without sampling, a tradition started by his grandfather who founded the regional grocery chain in 1969. Sales of a new item pink glow pineapple were OK this past spring, for example, but have tripled since demonstrations were reintroduced.
“When people taste it, that’s what can makes people want to buy it and decide what they want to eat for dinner,” Tavello said.
While sampling is back, it’s not clear whether everyone is ready to bite. With that in mind, some retailers are putting various protocols in place to ease any health concerns.
At Costco, masked workers prepare the hot and cold samples behind plexiglass counters and distribute to its members one at a time. Stew Leonard’s also brought back hot samples with similar safety measures.
Walmart and its wholesale club division Sam’s Club are serving only pre-sealed food samples. And Sam’s Club is limiting to sampling on the weekend. Target said that staffed food and beverage sampling has remained on pause since March 2020, but it has been allowing self-service sampling of individually wrapped items.
With beauty testing, retailers appear to be even more cautious. Ulta Beauty said it’s still figuring out how to bring back makeup testers. Target said in May it will resume beauty product sampling in stores this year where customers can take home individually wrapped items.
Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University, said the problem during the pandemic with food sampling hasn’t been the handling of the items but that food sampling can lead to people congregating, and that increases the risk of transmission.
He also points to concerns about food sampling that go beyond the coronavirus: “Multiple hands grabbing samples can lead to the spread of germs, while contaminated gloves can also disperse unwanted bacteria.”
As for makeup testing, Gostin said it’s “much safer and wiser” to use samples that are fully packaged. And with letting kids play with toys, frequent sanitizing of objects is recommended to contain viruses like influenza, which unlike COVID-19 can be easily spread through touching contaminated surfaces.
Toy retailer Camp, which centered its shopping experience around children playing with toys, now has individually wrapped craft kits in the store instead of letting kids dig around for art supplies, said Tiffany Markofsky, the company’s marketing director. For testing out toys, it’s sticking to items that can be easily cleaned, like remote-control toy cars instead of dolls with faux hair.
Marianne Szymanski, president of Toy Tips Inc., a toy guide, said she thinks toy testing overall will be “limited” because of lingering fears about germs due to the pandemic.
Some retailers are doing away with sampling altogether. For instance, West Hollywood, California-based beauty company Blushington isn’t reopening its six stores and is instead moving more toward virtual makeup sessions and offering services at shoppers’ home, according to Natasha Cornstein, the cmpany’s chief executive officer. Cornstein said she thinks shoppers believe they have better control of their environment and hygiene in their own home.
“The consumer is coming out of COVID with very different habits,” she said. “It’s not only about COVID now.”
Two people were shot, one critically, near Benito Juarez High School in Pilsen about an hour before students were released for the day Thursday afternoon.
Lea este articulo en espanol en La Voz Chicago, un servicio presentado por AARP Chicago.
A 16-year-old boy and a 34-year-old woman were in the 2100 block of South Ashland Avenue when someone approached and opened fire about 12:10 p.m, Chicago police said.
The woman was hit in the neck and taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said. The teen was shot in the leg and was in good condition at the hospital.
About an hour after the shooting, cars lined up as students were released from the school. Groups of students huddled together near the bus stops on Cermak.
According to witnesses, gunfire erupted after two women were seen fighting outside the school and a car pulled up near Ashland Avenue and Cermak.
“Kill that (expletive),” a man was heard shouting. Another witness heard someone say, “Shoot her.”
A woman who had been waiting for the bus said she ran south on Ashland when the car pulled up next to the school’s outdoor space.
“I started running,” said the woman, 50, who did not want her name used. “When I heard the first shot, I looked back and I saw her fall to the ground.”
Another woman, 40, said she was walking near the area when she saw the car pull up and heard someone say, “Shoot her.”
“I just froze,” she said. “I don’t remember anything.”
The women, who were interviewed separately, both said someone attempted to perform CPR on the woman until paramedics arrived. The car involved in the shooting took off, according to the witnesses.
The 50-year-old woman said she asked if the woman who had been shot would make it. She was told they had found a heartbeat. “They said it ain’t looking good,” she said.
A mother and daughter waited near the scene of the shooting. The mother had come to pick up the 14-year-old from school. She was participating in a program for freshman and sophomore students.
“It’s ugly because there are children who come here alone,” the mother said in Spanish. The mother asked not to be identified.
Patricia Dominguez, 69, of Pilsen, walked her dog Tsipeni not far from the scene. She didn’t see the shooting, but she said it broke her heart to hear about it.
“Of course with the gentrification, it’s changing but we are still reminded that this is the barrio and sometimes they don’t let us forget that,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez, who is an artist and author of children’s books, said more arts and sports programs for children are needed to help curb violence in Chicago. She said that’s why she sponsors Benito Juarez’s girls soccer team.
“That’s what I feel is going to really, really help,” Dominguez said.
A Chicago man allegedly told authorities he opened fire on an unmarked car carrying a police officer and two federal agents early Wednesday because he thought they were “opps” — or rival street gang members — surveilling a neighborhood on the Southwest Side.
McLaurin is charged with one count of using a dangerous and deadly weapon to assault an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. During a brief court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather McShain, a prosecutor said the feds want McLaurin held in custody as a danger to the community.
Eugene McLaurinChicago police
A defense attorney for McLaurin waived a detention hearing for the time being, meaning McLaurin will stay in federal custody.Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Pozolo said McLaurin was initially arrested by Chicago police at 8:35 a.m. Wednesday, and he was transferred to federal custody at 11:03 a.m. Thursday.
The shooting happened just before 6 a.m. Wednesday as the officer and two ATF agents were getting onto the northbound lanes of Interstate 57 near 119th Street, about a mile from the Morgan Park police station, authorities said.
The police officer was grazed in the back of the head, one ATF agent was shot in the hand, and another ATF agent suffered a wound to his side, police said. All were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center and have been released.
Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) made an appeal to Biden after the shooting, saying, “We’re at a critical point in the city of Chicago. We need help. Police can’t do it alone.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had expressed his personal support for the officer and agents during a meeting with Mayor Lori Lightfoot on the tarmac at O’Hare Airport.
McLaurin is a convicted felon who was previously sentenced to five years in prison in 2015 for illegal gun possession and delivery of methamphetamine, and one year in prison in 2013 for illegal gun possession, court records show.
A seven-page criminal complaint filed Thursday against McLaurin says the officer and agents were working on an undercover investigation near the 400 block of West 118th Street around 5:45 a.m. Then, a white Chevrolet Malibu began to follow an unmarked Chrysler 300 in which the officer and two agents were riding.
The complaint identifies the Chicago police officer as an ATF task force officer.
The Malibu followed the Chrysler as it traveled west on 119th, according to the complaint. At one point, it said the Malibu pulled ahead of the Chrysler, parked, then began to follow the Chrysler again after it drove by.
The Chrysler turned north on Ashland to get onto I-57, and the officers inside the Chrysler took down the Malibu’s license plate number. Then, when the Chrysler reached the I-57 on-ramp, the officers inside saw the Malibu on Ashland Avenue.
That’s when the driver’s side window of the Malibu rolled down, and a Black male with a “twist hair style” pointed a black handgun at the officers and opened fire, according to the complaint.
Authorities later tracked the Malibu to a house in the 200 block of East 89th Street, according to the complaint. There, officers found two Hornady 9mm shell casings on the driver’s side of car. Three such casings were also found at the scene of the shooting, according to the complaint.
A Chicago police officer also saw someone with a hairstyle matching the shooter’s in the backyard of a house next door to where the Malibu was parked, authorities said. Officers knocked on the door at 7:15 a.m., and McLaurin eventually stepped out.
McLaurin was sweaty and “visibly nervous,” according to the complaint. He allegedly told authorities he had been with his girlfriend that morning and had just been dropped off. An ATF agent took his picture and texted it to one of the victims of the shooting, authorities said. The victim allegedly said McLaurin’s hair matched the shooter’s but couldn’t say definitively it was him.
However, authorities arrested McLaurin and questioned him at a police station, according to the complaint. There, McLaurin allegedly admitted he was driving the Malibu near 118th Street and Normal Avenue early Wednesday, and that he began following the Chrysler.
McLaurin allegedly explained that a friend told him Tuesday that a white Chrysler 300 had been seen surveilling the area, and he thought the car he found was being driven by “opps” — or members of a rival street gang.
The feds say McLaurin admitted opening fire on the Chrysler with a Glock 9mm that he had purchased for personal protection a few months earlier, and he said he later dropped the gun into a drain.
Authorities said they found a key to the Malibu in a dryer vent tube during a search of the home where McLaurin was found.
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