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A woman was killed in a shooting Thursday night in West Pullman on the South Side.

The woman, whose age was unknown, was sitting in a parked car about 10:30 p.m. in the 12000 block of South Indiana Avenue when someone fired multiple shots, Chicago police said.

She suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office has not yet identified her.

There were no witnesses to the shooting, police said.

Police did not provide any additional details.

Area Two detectives are investigating the shooting.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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The Hawks scored three times in the third period and once in overtime to beat the Predators 5-4 on Wednesday. If anything can jumpstart a postseason push, it’s probably this performance.

The Blackhawks will need a miraculous three-week comeback to make the playoffs.

But they proved Wednesday they are capable of miraculous comebacks, at least over 15-minute spans.

Given up for dead when trailing the Predators 4-1 with 10 minutes to play, the Hawks scored three times in a 2:59 span of the third period to tie the game before winning 5-4 in overtime on Brandon Hagel’s goal.

It has been years since the Hawks won a regular-season game of this significance, much less in this fashion. If anything can jumpstart a postseason push, it’s probably Wednesday’s performance.

“We never gave up,” Vinnie Hinostroza said. “If you want to be a playoff team, you have to win some games like that. It just shows the character we have in the locker room. Every guy on our team battled today.”

“It could be a big boost, but we’ve got to make that the case,” coach Jeremy Colliton added.

Entering Wednesday, the Hawks had scored three or more goals on the Predators just two times in 22 games since the start of the 2017 playoffs. They’d yet to do it in six meetings against the Preds this season, all of which had been losses.

But Wyatt Kalynuk’s goal off a Patrick Kane feed midway through the third lit some kindling. Hinostroza finishing a pretty give-and-go play with Kirby Dach — cutting the deficit to one — then ignited a fire rarely seen in the Hawks since 2017.

“It seemed like when we got that one, we got a little bit of a jolt,” Colliton said. “But then to get the second one, the group really got the burst of energy.”

In the weeks since Connor Murphy’s momentous April 8 quote, when he called the Hawks “fragile” for their unwillingness to pick each other up after mistakes, the team has somehow manufactured quite a bit of never-give-up attitude. They’ve gone 4-2-0 since that night and come from behind for three of those wins.

Colliton didn’t need to deliver a rousing public speech Wednesday like he did April 10 in Columbus — jumpstarting that eventual 4-3 victory — but instead said “everything that needed to be said” at the second intermission. Whatever he did, it translated onto the bench in the third period.

“You look left and you look right, every guy’s got the fire in their eyes,” Hinostroza said. “They’re ready to get on the ice. Whether it’s backchecking or finishing a check or getting the puck out of the zone, everyone here wants to win. We all have the same goal of getting in the playoffs. We never had self doubt.”

Goalie Malcolm Subban, making a third straight appearance for the first time in his Hawks tenure, kept the hosts within striking distance with 26 saves — some of which were spectacular — on 40 shots.

He nearly lost his mind when, from the opposite end of the rink, he watched Hagel lift the puck over Juuse Saros’ near-side shoulder and off the net’s back bar for his second overtime winner in a row.

“[I was thinking], ‘Oh my gosh,’” Subban said. “Just like, ‘We did it. We did it.’ It was an unbelievable feeling.”

The Hawks will need yet another win Friday in their final regular-season matchup against the Predators, then plenty more after that, to make the playoffs. But at least they now have a reason for belief.

“Down the stretch, there’s going to be some bigger games,” Hagel said. “We’re trying to take every game one by one, and this is the biggest one so far. Now it turns to the next game, probably the biggest one of the year. And on and on.”

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It wasn’t always certain what the Cubs would get from their left-handed options in the bullpen during spring training, but the lefties in the bullpen have started to show what they can do.

There were few left-handed bullpen options for David Ross last season before the team acquired Andrew Chafin at the trade deadline. This season, they’ve gotten quality innings from Chafin, Rex Brothers, Justin Steele and Brad Wieck.

The four relievers have a combined 3.26 ERA in 19 1/3 innings this season.

“I think [Chafin] we knew coming in, we had a lot of confidence from seeing him last year and how he competes,” Ross said. “Rex, to me, was probably our best pitcher overall in spring training that I saw. Just the stuff that we knew was there. … He looks like he’s in a really good place. The balls come out of his hand really well.

“Justin Steele, Brad Wieck, we’ve got some really good lefties. Kyle Ryan is still down there working his way back. We’ve got a lot of confidence in the lefties and they will be and they have been a big part of this team. I have a lot of confidence in those guys.”

Happ enjoying podcast co-hosts MLB debut

Center fielder Ian Happ’s podcast, “The Compound ” has taken off since it launched during quarantine last year and one of his co-hosts got his first taste of the big leagues on Wednesday. Former Cub, now Tigers’ prospect Zack Short, made his MLB debut for Detroit against the Pirates and Happ was able to watch his good friend’s big accomplishment before the Cubs took on the Mets.

“We found out a couple days ago,” Happ said. “Obviously, couldn’t speak to it [when we found out], but we were super excited. Dakota and I were texting with him the last couple of days. I’m just really fired up for him to have that opportunity.

“It’s just really awesome. Just very Zack Short-esque two at-bats today, working two walks, great defense diving. But just really excited for him, his family, and a lot of long days at the yard, some injuries he’s overcome, but to have a chance to debut is really, really special.”

Alzolay to return Saturday, start vs. Brewers

The Cubs optioned right-hander Adbert Alzolay to the team’s alternate site last week, but the young right-hander won’t be in South Bend much longer. Ross said before Wednesday’s game that Alzolay would be back with the club on Saturday and start against the Brewers.

Alzolay is 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA in two starts this season but pitched well in his last start against the Brewers on April 12. The Cubs are using this season to monitor Alzolay’s innings and workload as he pitches in a full Major League season for the first time in his career.

The most innings Alzolay has thrown during his professional career was 126 innings in 2017.

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The indictment relies to a large extent on wiretap recordings of Burke’s phone calls, and a major element of his defense is trying to convince Judge Robert Dow that prosecutors never had probable cause to justify getting approval for the wiretaps in the first place. 

Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), having no shame, took his normal seat Wednesday at the City Council as that august body resumed its in-person deliberations for the first time since its pandemic hiatus.

It was easy to forget about Burke this last year while the Council was meeting only remotely via video, the once powerful Finance chairman just another box in the Hollywood Squares except when he opened his yap, which was mercifully far less frequently than when he was the chamber’s loquacious ringmaster.

But there he was Wednesday, back in our face, a reminder that he hasn’t gone anywhere despite a federal corruption case now pending more than two years with no trial in sight. That’s his right, of course, having been duly reelected by the voters of his Southwest Side ward, which makes it no less galling.

And that’s why we can give you a fresh photo of a masked Burke from Wednesday when federal prosecutors made public a lengthy — and heavily redacted — court filing responding to efforts by his lawyers to toss out the charges against him, or in the alternative, to quash some of the government’s best evidence.

Burke has some very good lawyers, Joseph Duffy from Loeb & Loeb, and Charles Sklarsky and former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas from Jenner & Block, and in re-reading their filings from last summer, I have to admit they gave me pause to consider the possibility that their client might yet go free altogether.

I’m as guilty as anyone in the news media of losing sight of the presumption of innocence and presuming instead that when federal prosecutors bring charges against a big fish like Burke they will make something stick, even if their track record certainly bears out that way of thinking.

It’s even harder to keep an open mind when it’s someone like Burke, who I’ve always believed was using his public office to leverage clients for his law business, although I might have imagined he was a little more subtle about it than described in the indictment accusing him of extortion and bribery.

That indictment relies to a large extent on wiretap recordings of Burke’s phone calls, and a major element of his defense is trying to convince Judge Robert Dow that prosecutors never had probable cause to justify getting approval for the wiretaps in the first place.

They argue federal investigators had no evidence of Burke attempting to commit a crime, just because he was talking with Ald. Danny Solis (25th), at the time working as a government mole, to help him get law business from developers of the old central Post Office building.

One of their contentions is that Burke offered to take no official action on the developer’s behalf and really wasn’t in any position to do so because the matter was before Solis, not him.

I thought prosecutors answered that pretty well, making it more clear to me than ever that their theory of the case is that Burke was using the threat of official action by Solis — who was in a strong position to block the project because it was located in his ward — to leverage legal fees for himself, which he was then promising to split with Solis.

That is just the sort of bank shot I would have always expected from Burke, and in this case, he was allegedly proposing to cover up the payment by channeling it through another lawyer, which also fits.

Another complaint from Burke’s lawyers is that federal investigators got permission to tap Burke’s phones based on the Post Office investigation, but then stumbled upon phone calls dealing with another alleged shakedown with which he was eventually charged involving the remodeling of a Burger King in his 14th Ward.

Burke’s lawyers say investigators should have stopped listening when the subject switched to the Burger King. In wiretap law, that’s called minimization.

Prosecutors say, in very precise legal language, that’s just Burke’s tough luck.

In making the point that investigators took seriously their duty to “minimize” the calls on which they eavesdropped, prosecutors noted: “Numerous calls were minimized (and even subject to automatic minimizations in some cases) once it was determined that the call concerned a non-pertinent subject or was with an individual who had a personal or private relationship with Burke.”

That came as close to anything I’ve seen to answering a question I’ve had since the start of this case: What did the feds do when Burke was talking on the phone with his wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke?

I think they were under orders not to listen. A footnote that might have provided the answer was completely redacted.

Burke may not be going anywhere, but neither is this case.

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Darren Dreger reported during the Blackhawks-Predators national broadcast Wednesday that Toews “should be healthy and ready to return to the Blackhawks next season.”

Jonathan Toews is “very likely done” for the remainder of the Blackhawks’ 2021 season, Darren Dreger reported Wednesday on NBC Sports Network.

But Toews is trending toward returning next season, Dreger said during the first intermission of the nationally televised Hawks-Predators game.

“The good news is that his health is getting better,” said Dreger, long one of the NHL’s most prominent insiders. “As long as he stays headed in the right direction, he should be healthy and ready to return to the Blackhawks next season. It has been a very challenging year for [him].”

Toews, who turns 33 next week, has not played this season. He announced in December he was taking a medical leave because of an unknown illness causing him to feel “drained and lethargic.”

With only nine games left out of 56 after Wednesday, it’s not remotely surprising Toews won’t return this season.

The Hawks will now hope Toews can rejoin the team for 2021-22 training camp in September. Hawks general manager Stan Bowman told the Sun-Times earlier this month he had no update on Toews’ health but was still including him in future roster planning.

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All anyone in Chicago wants is Jonathan Toews to be healthy. That is so much more important than anything hockey-related. He hasn’t played a single game for the Chicago Blackhawks this season for an undisclosed health situation. We haven’t heard much of anything about him this season outside of a nice tribute video he made […]

Chicago Blackhawks: Darren Dreger gives a Jonathan Toews update – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

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Will the Chicago Bears take a chance on Stanford’s Davis Mills at quarterback? One expert thinks so.

The post Davis Mills to the Chicago Bears in Round 1 Picking Up Steam? first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

Cook County is allowing too many suspects charged with serious gun crimes to be freed on electronic monitoring.

For years, jails have been misused as a kind of storage dump for people who are mentally ill or accused of only minor crimes but too poor to make bail.

For those types of cases, Cook County’s bail reform measures of 2017 have been a resounding success, creating a template for statewide bail reform enacted by the Legislature earlier this year, which should also prove to be a success. A Loyola University Chicago study released in November found that twice as many people were released without having to post bail as would have been expected without bail reform. If you look at Cook County Jail now, its occupants are mostly those charged with murder or other serious offenses.

But now, even longtime advocates of bail reform are worried that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction when it comes to gun crimes. They question why people who, by any common-sense standard, are a danger to the community are being released, sometimes on electronic monitoring.

Count us among those who are worried.

Case in point is Ruben Roman, the 21-year-old man who allegedly started the chain of events that led to the police-shooting death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo on March 29. Twenty-one days after Toledo was killed, Roman was freed from jail on electronic monitoring.

Ruben was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, child endangerment and violating probation. On the basis of those charges, it is unlikely Judge Susana Ortiz could have ordered Roman held without bail, though we and many others would argue that Roman appears to be a clear and genuine threat to the community.

Roman is not charged with any crime, such as murder or aggravated sex assault, that clearly would have allowed Ortiz to deny him bail. Moreover, Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans has instructed judges to find a way to grant affordable bail. We don’t know what Roman’s pretrial services report revealed about the severity of his criminal background.

Roman and Toledo allegedly were caught on video and audio recordings shooting at moving cars in Little Village. After the police, responding to a ShotSpotter alert, arrived on the scene, the pair attempted to flee. Toledo was fatally shot a split second after apparently tossing away a gun and raising his hands, all in one motion. Roman reportedly was tackled by police and gunpowder residue was found on his gloves.

After an incident back in 2019, Roman was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, resisting arrest and other charges. Prosecutors dropped most of the charges in exchange for a guilty plea to a single count of unlawful use of a weapon, however, and Roman was sentenced to probation.

Roman, who was arrested in Maywood in early April, allegedly violated the terms of that probation. The Chicago Community Bond fund paid his $15,000 bail in the Adam Toledo case, along with a bail of $25,000 for the 2019 case.

Electronic monitoring has been an effective way to keep drug offenders out of jail while they are awaiting trial. If they break the rules and leave home to buy or sell drugs, the danger to society is not great.

But repeat gun offenders are another matter. If they break the rules and leave home and commit further gun crimes, the danger to us all is obviously great. It’s also unnerving to people in a neighborhood to see that somebody who has been arrested for a serious gun crime is right back on the street. Can anybody point to a single study that shows that repeat gun offenders released from jail do not pose a serious danger?

Cook County needs to go back to the drawing board on gun offenses. The county should keep most of its recent bail reforms but rewrite the rules for gun crimes. That will require changes in the law. It also will require guidelines for judges and prosecutors to make better distinctions between serious and minor gun crimes. The Illinois Legislature set the effective date for its bail reform in 2023 to ensure it gets it right.

About 5,700 people are now being held in Cook County Jail. The majority of them are criminal suspects awaiting trial who have been denied bail. About 80% of those in the jail are charged with murder or another very serious offense. About 20% are waiting to be transferred elsewhere, such as to a state prison. Some face charges that don’t appear to be significant but they have serious criminal backgrounds.

Where Cook County has gotten it wrong, in our view, has been in allowing more people charged with murder or serious gun crimes to be released on electronic monitoring. At this very moment, 93 people charged with murder are on home monitoring.

The quickest way to undermine popular support for efforts to reduce the jail’s population, by eliminating cash bail and other means, is to release on electronic monitoring people who should remain right where they are — behind bars.

Send letters to [email protected].

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