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Marco Calderon allegedly fired six rounds at a vehicle occupied by four people about 7 p.m. in the 200 block of West Pomeroy Street, prosecutors said. 

A man is accused of shooting at four people in a vehicle, striking one, earlier this month in West Chicago.

Marco Calderon, 18, was arrested April 22 and charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a street gang member, the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office said in a statement.

On April 12, Calderon allegedly fired six rounds at a vehicle occupied by four people about 7 p.m. in the 200 block of West Pomeroy Street, prosecutors said.

One of the passengers was struck in the back, while the other occupants were not injured, prosecutors said. Calderon allegedly drove off after the shooting.

Calderon was ordered held on $750,000 bail and is expected back in court May 17.

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U.S. Sen. Tim Scott claims to be outraged that the Washington Post checked his claims against the record.

Republican junk jams my spam email file, scores of panting messages every day. A quick sample: “Biden Threatens War With Russia” and “Exposed: Biden’s Plot To Crush Gun Owners” and “FIRE Fauci.”

Almost every communication ends with a plea for cash, all hyperventilating with the frantic, the-house-on-fire-save-the-baby! hysteria that is the official GOP tone: cry doom and rattle the cup. To be fair, Democrats do it, too, though I don’t get nearly as many. I’m not sure why.

Maybe the same trolls who sign me up for fringe gun nut groups under the mistaken notion it bothers me also donate in my name to Republican candidates. Maybe the emails are sent to every known address including mine. Who can say?

I usually never click on them or even read the subject line. There are too many. But I do sometimes open the spam file to take a peek before deleting everything, like someone glancing into the toilet bowl before flushing.

Occasionally, something catches my attention, such the subject line, “My family’s story is being fact-checked?!” from U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), who will give the GOP response to President Biden’s speech to a joint session of Congress April 28.

Fact-checking is a good thing in the world of the mainstream media. But then again, so are facts. The idea that fact-checking would be used as a cry of grievance is like someone shouting out a window, “Help me, my kitchen is being cleaned!” It certainly is intriguing.

The email from Scott, the only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate, begins:

“The mainstream media has decided to fact-check my family’s story of ‘cotton to Congress in one lifetime.’ That’s right, The Washington Post has been investigating my family’s history in the South and downplaying the struggles and racism they faced. It’s shameful. Plain and simple.”

He’s referring to Glenn Kessler’s April 23 story in the Washington Post, which starts with several quotes from Scott, depicting his grandfather Artis Ware as an illiterate who picked cotton, then delving into records to see if that’s true.

It seems Scott’s grandfather could read and write, and if he picked cotton, it was on the substantial farm his father owned. Its conclusion is not particularly damning to the senator:

“Scott tells a tidy story packaged for political consumption, but a close look shows how some of his family’s early and improbable success gets flattened and written out of his biography. Against heavy odds, Scott’s ancestors amassed relatively large areas of farmland, a mark of distinction in the Black community at the time. Scott, moreover, does not mention that his grandfather worked on his father’s farm — a farm that was expanded through land acquisitions even during the Great Depression.”

In other words, Scott is like every other politician, pretending to have humbler roots than reality would indicate. Bruce Rauner talked about his teenage jobs far more than about his nine mansions. It’s what they do.

Yet Scott ruffles with indignation. “But no amount of ‘fact-checking’ or attacks from the mainstream media will EVER take away from the struggles that my family overcame,” he insists.

Scott is joined by a chorus of right wing outrage, from Fox News to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who tweets:

“What WaPo did to @SenatorTimScott is shameful. When minorities refuse to be victims, disagree with liberal talking points, and think for ourselves, the media shames us and questions our credibility.”

We could discuss whether those who excuse the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6 can be said to feel shame. Suggesting scrutiny is something reserved for Republicans is the kind of faux victimization the GOP excels at. Yet they still expect accuracy. I checked the spelling of “Nikki;” if I got it wrong, people would complain while still denouncing fact-checking.

Scott gets to his plea.

“Every time I see a nasty insult from the Left or an unjust ‘fact-check,’ I am comforted knowing that there are patriots like you, Neil, who have my back … Sadly, this won’t be the last time we face insults, casual racism, or attacks from the Left. But with your help we can continue spreading the positive message of conservatism.”

Is undercutting the bedrock of democracy — kneecapping voting, slurring the press and constraining free speech — while living in an upside-down alternate reality of your own making now considered “conservative?” I suppose it is.

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Robin Thornton, 34, faces first-degree murder charges in the death of Dominique Bynum, the Cook County Sheriff’s office announced Saturday.

A Chicago woman was ordered held without bail for allegedly fatally shooting a man last month during a fight in the parking lot of a bar near suburban Elmhurst.

Robin Thornton, 34, faces first-degree murder charges in the death of 28-year-old Dominique Bynum, the Cook County sheriff’s office announced Saturday.

Two groups of people began fighting inside Galway Bar and Grill in Unincorporated Proviso Township about 2 a.m. on March 26, the sheriff’s office said. The fight continued in the parking lot where surveillance video showed Thornton pulling a firearm out of her waistband, then fleeing the scene, the sheriff’s office said.

Sherriff’s police responded to a call of a person shot in the parking lot and found Bynum in the 100 block of North 15th Street in Melrose Park with a gunshot wound to the chest.

He was transported to Elmhurst Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.

Thornton was arrested Wednesday in Chicago. Police found a firearm in her home matching the caliber of the shell casing at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office. Thornton also made statements about her involvement in the shooting that resulted in Bynum’s death.

Her next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.

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Loyola finishes on top, colleges need to wake up and find St. Rita’s Michael Gaughan and how about we let everyone into the playoffs?

The pandemic spring football season is all wrapped up. How about we never do that again?

It’s great that the kids were able to play some games, especially for the seniors, but nothing about the season felt right or was satisfying. Fan interest is at an all-time low, which is understandable for a season that most people can’t watch that has no playoffs.

Scrambling to find games was a challenge for athletic directors and coaches all over the area, but an incredibly high percentage of the final Super 25 teams were able to play six games.

Football scheduling has always been a major issue for schools, with everyone jockeying to find the perfect path to five wins and a playoff berth. I’d prefer if that ended in the future. High school sports are about improving throughout the season. It would be great if we could find a way to expand the state playoffs and let everyone in.

That thought was on my mind on Friday in Niles as I watched Notre Dame give St. Rita a stern challenge. The Dons had some issues on offense early in the season but figured them out and now look like a ranked team.

“We got off to a slow start this spring and couldn’t put the ball in the end zone,” Notre Dame coach Mike Hennessey said. “But defensively we’ve hit the mark in every game except maybe the Marist game. We’re a young team but we play hard.”

The Dons would have had trouble making the playoffs in a normal year because improving throughout the season isn’t really rewarded in our current system.

Wire to wire

Loyola finishes the season right where they started, in the top spot of the Super 25 rankings.

The Ramblers weren’t dethroned at any point this season. All six teams they defeated were ranked at some point this season and five of their opponents finish the season in the Super 25.

Lincoln-Way East was the other contender for the final top spot. The Griffins are a perfect 6-0 but their strength of schedule falls short of Loyola’s. They beat two teams that were ranked at some point this season (Bolingbrook and Homewood-Flossmoor), but no teams in the final rankings.

Lacrosse?

Right now St. Rita linebacker Michael Gaughan is planning to play lacrosse in college. I’m sure he’s a great lacrosse player, but Gaughan would prefer to play football and he’s more than proven he’d be an asset to a college program.

“I can’t get anyone to bite on him to play Division I football,” Mustangs coach Todd Kuska said. “He’s one of the best linebackers we’ve ever had. He makes every play.”

Gaughan had 161 tackles last season and this season had 90 tackles in just six games. He’s not huge at 6-0, 215 pounds but is one of the most disruptive defensive forces I watched this season.

It’s not far away

The fall football season is right around the corner. Practices can begin on Aug. 9 and the first games are Aug. 27. I’m sure no one wants to wish the summer away, but it’s great to imagine full stadiums and playoff brackets.

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Loyola goes wire to wire in the top spot.

Loyola finishes the season right where they started, in the top spot of the Super 25 rankings.

The Ramblers weren’t dethroned at any point this season. All six teams they defeated were ranked at some point this season and five of their opponents finish the season in the Super 25.

Lincoln-Way East was the other contender for the final top spot. The Griffins are a perfect 6-0 but their strength of schedule falls short of Loyola’s. They beat two teams that were ranked at some point this season (Bolingbrook and Homewood-Flossmoor), but no teams in the final rankings.

With record and preseason ranking

1. Loyola (6-0) 1

2. Lincoln-Way East (6-0) 3

3. St. Rita (6-1) 9

4. Naperville Central (5-1) 10

5. Mount Carmel (4-2) 2

6. Brother Rice (4-2) 5

7. Marist (4-2) 7

8. Warren (6-0) 11

9. Maine South (5-1) 14

10. Hinsdale Central (6-0) 16

11. Joliet Catholic (6-0) 18

12. Barrington (6-0) NR

13. Wheaton North (5-1) NR

14. St. Charles North (4-1) NR

15. Huntley (5-0) 25

16. Prospect (5-1) NR

17. Cary-Grove (4-0) 19

18. Neuqua Valley (4-0) 22

19. Glenbard West (3-1) 6

20. Hillcrest (5-1) NR

21. Lake Forest (6-0) NR

22. Antioch (6-0) NR

23. St. Francis (6-0) NR

24. Crete-Monee (6-0) NR

25. New Trier (5-1) NR

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Cellphones have a way of interrupting things — conversations, movies, silence.

John Mitchell’s cellphone interrupted a bullet.

It was in his sweatshirt pocket as Mitchell, coffee in hand, exited a Logan Square gas station and entered the sights of a carjacker’s handgun.

It was the morning of Feb. 24 and a few degrees above freezing.

There were two shots. One grazed his hand. The other, headed for his torso, slammed into his iPhone.

“The phone was disintegrated, you know what I mean? It started on fire. I thought I was hit. I looked down and just started yelling ‘Call the police!'” he recalled.

In a heartbeat, Mitchell, 57, a city plumbing inspector from Edison Park, gained membership in a very small club of people in Chicago saved from serious injury — or worse — by a something that happened to be on their body.

For Chicago Police Officer Frederico Andaverde, it was a wallet.

The leather billfold stopped a bullet during a West Side shootout in September 2003.

The slug tore through cash, credit cards, pictures of his children and his ID before stopping just short of his health insurance card.

Andaverde, now 51 and still a cop, received a nasty bruise and several “Buns of Steel” workout videos from colleagues.

His wallet was never returned; it’s being held as evidence in case the man charged in the shooting, who fled the country, is arrested again.

“But the money, that they returned to me,” said Andaverde, who received one of the city’s highest honors for bravery after the shooting. “I argued that I needed it to pay bills.”

He laminated a $20 bill and keeps it in his wallet — a sobering reminder.

It’s unclear how many people could sit at a table with Mitchell and Andaverde to tell a similar tale. Nobody tracks such cases.

Reaching out to Chicago hospitals, police and fire personnel and others who work with victims of gun violence yields a common response: “Let me ask around and see if anyone remembers anything like this.”

Last summer, Grace Chang, a trauma surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital on the West Side, treated a man who had keys, a brass knuckle and several coins in his pocket that stopped a bullet. The coins shattered, and pieces of the metal became embedded under his skin. But the wounds were superficial.

“I told him, ‘You’re very lucky, you should go buy a lottery ticket,'” Chang recalled.

“The longer you practice, the more you realize you see more things that really can’t be explained … life is kind of weird,” Chang said.

In 2017, a man who thought he’d been shot after hearing gunfire on a West Side street ended up in Mount Sinai’s emergency room, but doctors were puzzled when they removed his clothes and couldn’t find a bullet wound, just a couple of scratches, recalled Jhoanna Gulmatico, program coordinator for trauma service at the hospital.

The mystery was solved when they checked his pants and found a shattered iPhone with bullet fragments in it.

“We thought it was basically his saving grace,” Gulmatico said.

The chances of an iPhone stopping a bullet depend on several factors, including distance, trajectory and the type of gun and bullet, said Tom Gamboe, a forensic scientist with the Illinois State Police. “And if there was a case on the iPhone, that would help, too,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want to put an iPhone in the breast pocket of my shirt and say, ‘Go ahead and shoot me, and let’s see if it does anything,'” he said.

A Chicago cop responding to the mass shooting at Mercy Hospital in 2018 was saved from serious injury when his holstered handgun stopped a bullet.

Chicago Police Department

“This sort of thing happened a few times over the course of my career,” said former Chicago Police Supt. Phil Cline, who retired in 2007 after four decades with the department and now heads the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.

Mitchell, who’s daughter came in from Kentucky to be with her dad after his brush with gun violence, is just glad to be alive.

“I’m Catholic, and I tell you what, I pray to God. And you better believe I’ve been praying more,” he said.

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The miniseries games have been fairly kind to the Bulls this season.

There was an introduction to them in late December, as they waltzed into the nation’s capital, beating the Wizards in both games, including a 28-point outburst from former forward Otto Porter Jr. in Game 2.

Then in early February, Tom Thibodeau returned to his old stomping grounds, earning the split in Chicago in two very physical games.

And then a few days later, the Bulls were off to Disney, watching then-Magic center Nikola Vucevic score a career-high 43 points against them, only to win the rematch a night later.

The sample size is small, but solid.

It better be.

“It’s a must-win game for us, so we got to come out ready to compete,” guard Coby White said of what’s coming on Monday. “We know that.”

They also know that they have put themselves in must-win mode over the final 12 games of the season if they want any chance to play a meaningful game for the first time since the “Three Alphas” – Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo – were playing together in the real basketball mecca back in 2017.

One major problem? The schedule. As of Sunday, the Bulls have only six wins against teams currently sitting .500 or better. Of the 12 games they have left, nine teams are sitting above that .500 mark.

Of the 12 games the Wizards have left – the team the Bulls are chasing for that final play-in spot, six are against teams .500 or better.

The path will not be easy, starting on Monday in the rematch with the Heat.

At Miami – The Bulls used their size to overcome a 20-point halftime deficit, so there’s a blueprint for the rematch. Considering the inconsistencies going on with Miami, give the Bulls the much-needed win as they head to the Big Apple. Win – 26-35 record.

At New York – No NBA team is playing better than Thibodeau’s blue-collar crew. Physicality has been Bulls kryptonite all season long, and is again on Wednesday. Loss – 26-36 record.

Milwaukee – The Bucks haven’t lost a division game all season long, and won’t start with the team that hasn’t beat them since Dec. 26, 2017, when Nikola Mirotic went off for 26 points. Loss – 26-37 record.

At Atlanta – The hope is Zach LaVine could be back for this game and Trae Young (ankle) won’t be. That’s a lot of hope against a team the Bulls haven’t had much success against this season. Loss – 26-38 record.

Philadelphia – The 76ers are mortal on the road and always seem to be undermanned when they play the Bulls, but Joel Embiid & Co. are chasing the Nets for top seed. Loss – 26-39 record.

At Charlotte – One of the few postseason-bound teams the Bulls have handled this year, and that trend continues. Win – 27-39 record.

Boston – The win over the enigma that is the Celtics back on April 19 was solid. However, Boston has more on the line as it tries to get right going into the playoffs. Loss – 27-40 record.

At Detroit – The Pistons have been in tank mode for months, and the Bulls help them with the process. Win – 28-40 record.

Brooklyn – Who knows who even plays for most talented/strangest collection of players on the planet. The Bulls beat the Nets short-handed once, but not this time. Loss – 28-41 record.

Toronto – Like the Bulls, the Raptors are fighting for a play-in game. The Bulls will be looking for the season sweep, and get it. Win – 29-41 record.

At Brooklyn – Nets will hopefully have their fate decided and will do what they seemingly do best – rest guys. Win – 30-41 record.

Milwaukee – Like the Nets, the Bucks are in R&R mode, getting ready for the playoffs. Win – 31-41 record.

Bulls finish a game behind Washington, missing the last play-in spot, and praying for lottery nirvana.

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