What’s New

After police shot and killed a 13-year-old boy in what officials described as an “armed confrontation” in Little Village early Monday, everyone from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to community activists to the boy’s neighbors on Thursday called for the release of videos that could shed light on what happened.

The boy’s mother also said she wants answers about the death of her son, who she said wanted to be a police officer someday.

“He wanted to be a cop when he grew up,” Elizabeth Toledo told the Sun-Times of her son, Adam. “And next thing you know, a cop took his life.”

The Cook County medical examiner said Adam, 13, was shot in his chest and later died in the incident, which took place in an alley west of the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue.

In a statement, police said officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert about 2:35 a.m. that morning and saw two males. One person, who was allegedly armed, ran from the scene and was shot by an officer during the “armed confrontation,” police said.

Police shared a photo of a gun allegedly recovered at the scene.

That person, later identified as Adam, died at the scene, police said. Adam’s mother identified him at the county morgue Wednesday after filing a missing person report with police.

The other person who ran from police, 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr. of Edgewater, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest, police said. In 2019, Roman pleaded guilty to illegal gun possession stemming from an arrest in Evanston and was sentenced to probation, court records show.

Elizabeth Toledo said in a phone interview Thursday that she doesn’t know what happened to her son, who she last saw Sunday when they attended a memorial service for a relative who died.

She said “just wants answers about what really happened.”

“I haven’t heard from cops since yesterday when they knocked on my door,” said Toledo, 44.

Authorities said the family lives in the 3700 block of South Millard Avenue, which is about a mile and a half from the scene of the shooting.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

COPA researching whether it can release video

The officer in Monday’s incident was placed on desk duty for 30 days while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigates the shooting, police said.

The shooting was captured by body-worn camera, but it wasn’t immediately clear if investigators would release it.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, COPA said while it is required to release body camera video of police shootings within 60 days of the incident, policy prohibits them from sharing video if the victim is under 18 years old. Without a court order, the video would not be released, the statement said.

Later, COPA said it was “currently making every effort and researching all legal avenues that will allow for the public release of all video materials. … COPA has been in contact with the Toledo family and will provide the family a review of all video materials.”

Matthew Topic, a Chicago attorney who specializes in cases involving public records and has represented the Sun-Times, said courts “have repeatedly rejected” the argument that videos of police shootings involving minors can be shielded from disclosure under Illinois’ Juvenile Court Act.

Investigators will release other evidence including 911 calls, police reports and radio transmissions within 60 days, COPA said.

In a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has a 13-year-old daughter, said she “can only imagine the incredible pain this boy’s parents are experiencing at this moment. My heart goes out to them.”

She said while the case was still under investigation, “we must ask ourselves how our social safety net failed this boy leading to the tragic events in the early hours of Monday morning. While the investigation is ongoing, it is critically important that COPA releases relevant videos first to the family, and then to the public, as quickly as possible with appropriate protections given his age.”

Police Supt. David Brown said the shooting was “tragic” and “adamantly” called for the release of videos.

“My greatest fear as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department has been a deadly encounter between one of our own and a juvenile especially given the recent rise in violent crimes involving juveniles throughout our city,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, this fear became a reality earlier this week.”

Lea este articulo en espanol en La Voz Chicago, un servicio presentado por AARP Chicago.

‘Very disheartening’

Adam’s mom said the family moved to Little Village in November. The boy reportedly attended Gary Elementary School on 31st Street.

“He was always happy. He loved animals. He was loving to all his siblings,” she said.

Near the scene of the incident on Thursday, which took place behind Farragut Career Academy High School, residents gathered for a yard sale and formed a line along 24th Street where a local church was holding a food drive.

A surveillance video taken from a camera at Amor de Dios United Methodist Church, which is at the corner of 24th and Sawyer, caught flashes of light from the shooting and additional police officers as they arrived on the scene. However, neither the officer who fired the shots nor Adam could be seen in the video.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Pastor Ramiro Rodriguez, who lives in the 2300 block of South Sawyer, said his son heard the gunshots early Monday morning but neither witnessed the incident.

“I feel for the kids around here,” Rodriguez said in Spanish. ” … What happened here is not what we want, we want the best for our families and for our youth.”

Rodriguez said he does not know Adam or his family, but said he turned over the security footage to detectives.

Many at the food drive expressed shock to hear that the person gunned down by police behind their homes was so young. Nakia Smith, a mother of a 13-year-old boy herself, said she heard gunshots on early that morning, followed moments later by a swarm of blue lights.

“It’s very disheartening, especially with what happened a year ago, with the [Derek] Chauvin trial and everything,” Smith said, referring to the Minneapolis officer who is currently on trial in the murder of George Floyd. “And then Monday morning, come to find out it was a 13-year-old boy killed … it’s just quite a bit.”

She added: “I do understand that the police don’t always know what someone is going to do, but there has to be a better way.”

Meanwhile, Rafael Hurtado Jr., 30 — who said he lives a few houses down from where the medical examiner said Adam lived — urged the release of video footage related to the shooting.

“It’s hard to take CPD’s word for it” that he was armed, he said. “Especially with everything that’s been going on with the police shootings in other places.”

He said that “it’s tragic for everyone involved, for the family, for the kid because he was so young and for the officer who pulled the trigger.”

Activists skeptical of police version

Anthony Gonzalez, an organizer with the community group Mi Villita Neighbors, said he was personally “shocked because it is like when does the violence from police end?”

He was skeptical of the police version of events.

“I don’t think we know the full story but we can’t take the police’s word for it,” he said.

Chicago police

But local Ald. George Cardenas (12th), who said he has many unanswered questions about the shooting, said “COPA has told me that the gun was found near his body.”

Cardenas urged Little Village residents to keep their cool and “wait for the facts to play out.”

“We’re trying to keep the peace and keep everybody as informed as possible so that people don’t jump to conclusions until all the facts are born out,” he said. “I urge the community to be patient for COPA to do its work. We have challenges in Little Village. The community has reported many shootings in that area. … I pray for our young people in harm’s way. There are so many incidents we battle on a daily basis.”

Two other people have been shot by Chicago police officers this week. Early Wednesday, an officer fatally shot an armed man in Portage Park after officers chased the man on foot. An officer fired shots after the man allegedly pulled out a gun in the 5200 block of West Eddy Street, police said.

Less than an hour later, an off-duty Chicago police officer shot someone breaking into their home in Albany Park on the Northwest Side. The officer shot the man in his face about 12:55 a.m. as the man broke into the officer’s home in the 3100 block of Belle Plaine Avenue, police said. The man was rushed in serious condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Contributing: Cindy Hernandez, Frank Main, Tom Schuba

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

Read More

Thousands of overjoyed Cubs fans returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in over a year Thursday for an unprecedented Opening Day matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Prior to the first pitch, throngs of fans chanted, cheered and posed for photographs under Wrigley’s iconic marquee at the intersection of Clark and Addison streets. Tim Gerster, of Portage Park, said the city’s move to allow a limited number of fans back to ballparks marks a shift “back to normalcy.”

“A year’s too long to be away from the Cubs,” said Gerster, who has for a decade brought his teenage son to every home opener.

• 
  
  

  William Gonzalez, 40, of Gage Park, wears a Cubs-themed luchador mask outside Wrigley Field on Opening Day 2021.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans wait to enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  A group of Cubs fans, including Roberto Ramos, 56, of Norwood Park, wearing full team attire and a bright blue face mask, walk outside Wrigley Field on Opening Day.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Carla Piunti, 50, of Chicago Heights, smiles as she prepares to enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans watch the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Wrigley Rooftops.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Ivan Aroyo, 25, of Cicero, poses for a photo outside Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  People walk their dogs outside Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans take selfies outside Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans wait to enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans watch the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Wrigley Rooftops.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Amy Zeiher, 34, drove to Chicago from New Jersey for the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game at Wrigley Field.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Greg Cooper, 58, of Springfield, holds a sign that says “First masked game 4-1-21” outside Wrigley Field on Opening Day.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans watch the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates outside Wrigley Field.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans wait to enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  An usher waits for fans to enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans wait to enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Damian Ehrlicher (center right, in grey), of Edison Park, drinks with friends at Murphy’s Bleachers during the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Vanessa Burks, 26, of St. Charles, approaches Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Fans watch the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Wrigley Rooftops.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

• 
  
  

  Anthony Reyes (center, in grey), of Bucktown, drinks with friends at Sluggers World Class Sports Bar during the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

  Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

As fans lined up outside, it was clear that changes had been made to the ballpark’s operations as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. Almost all fans donned protective masks and the attendees who were able to score tickets were ushered separately through socially distanced lines — a far cry from the mob scenes that were previously commonplace at the stadium’s entry points.

Kelli Serviss, a home health care worker from the Northwest Side, said she was “concerned” about coronavirus cases rising again as she posed for selfies outside the stadium with her daughter, niece and another health care worker. This week, city officials warned that baseball stadiums could again be shut down to fans if cases keep climbing.

“This does not feel like a normal Opening Day, not at all,” said Serviss, who has attended every home opener for roughly two decades. “It’s very empty. It’s very different.”

Still, Serviss said she deserves a reprieve after working through the pandemic and being vaccinated.

“Walking through the gates, I want to see that first pitch. Give me that first pitch,” she said, adding she also couldn’t wait to hear the stadium’s organ.

“I’m getting chills,” her friend, Allison Hoehn, chimed in.

By the top of the fifth inning, fans were streaming out of Wrigley’s main entrance. While some complained it was too cold in certain parts of the stadium, others said they were frustrated the mobile app needed to order beers and hot dogs wasn’t working.

Damian Ehrlicher and his friends ducked out of the game early to grab drinks at Murphy’s Bleachers, 3665 N. Sheffield Ave. But Ehrlicher, an Edison Park resident who’s attended around 35 straight openers, took the hiccup in stride.

“At the end of the day, aren’t you happy just to be out and be somewhat getting back to normal? … [Is it] aggravating? Yeah, but they weren’t prepared for it,” said Ehrlicher, the CEO of ProtectedIT, a managed security services provider based in Chicago.

“It is what it is,” he said. “They’ve had worse Opening Days.”

The beer-fueled bacchanal that typically extends to neighborhood taverns on game days appeared to be hampered by coronavirus-related restrictions. Though bars were able to seat limited numbers of patrons inside and on their patios, the atmosphere was docile compared to previous openers.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Ushers said 10,000 tickets were sold for Thursday’s game, which was more than initially announced but still less than a quarter of the stadium’s capacity.

“We got scared because the seating was so limited [and] we paid way too much. But we’re here. All that matters is that we’re here,” said Richie Garcia, a Bridgeport resident who said he and his friends have a “tradition” of attending Opening Day that stretches back two decades.

Garcia said he typically attends between 50 and 60 Cubs home games each year and being shut out of Wrigley last year was “really hard” on him.

“I went through a depression, withdrawals and all that other stuff,” he said. “But you know what? We’re back. It’s OK now. It’s a better day. I made it.”

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Asked about the Cubs’ prospects this year, Garcia said jokingly: “We’re going to go 162-0.”

One of the first big cheers went up for old friend Jake Arrieta, back again in a Cubs uniform, as players lined the third-base line for the kind of ceremonious introductions that happen only on special occasions like Opening Day.

It got even louder when right fielder Jason Heyward — carrying a Chicago flag — led the Cubs’ starting nine out of the dugout for the first inning.

He doffed his cap first to the fans beyond the right-field foul line, then to those in the bleachers. And then there was baseball.

Seated in tiny clusters of up to four, distanced from their neighbors, fans huddled against the cold and got, well, pretty quiet, the kind of thing that happens when voices are muffled by scarves wrapped over masks and clapping hands are muted by mitten on mitten.

Contributing: Steve Greenberg

Read More

For the first time since September 2019, a sizable crowd saw a baseball game at Wrigley Field as the Cubs opened the 2021 season at a chilly Wrigley Field.

But the warm feelings from Chicago’s first sporting event with fans since the pandemic began quickly faded in the Cubs’ 5-3 Opening Day loss to the Pirates.

The Pirates aren’t going to lead the National League in runs scored this season, but the Cubs gave them every opportunity to do damage and paid the price in the loss.

The Cubs’ pitching staff didn’t do themselves any favors on Thursday as they struggled to find the strike zone against Pittsburgh. Regardless of where the Pirates are predicted to finish in the NL Central, it’s hard to beat any team issuing 11 walks in a game. While the Pirates only scored five runs in the game, it could have easily been more with Pittsburgh leaving 15 runners on base.

“That’s a tough thing to watch,” manager David Ross said. “11 free passes, 12 with the hit batter. You gotta fill up the zone, especially on a cold day at Wrigley Field. The walks are gonna hurt you.”

Starter Kyle Hendricks didn’t have his Opening Day magic like he did last season when he tossed a complete-game shutout. The Cubs’ ace was uncharacteristically wild and was unable to get into a rhythm during his 63-pitch outing.

There wasn’t much contact after Ke’Bryan Hayes’ first-inning, two-run shot, but Hendricks couldn’t locate his fastball and often found himself in several three-ball counts.

“I was just, from pitch one, kind of battling myself,” Hendricks said. “It was a fight. Just not in a good position at the top of my balance point right now. It’s usually a small adjustment for me, but now obviously, I’ve got to put in some work and just find that spot to get through the baseball better.”

“Every time Kyle takes the mound, we’re expecting and he’s expecting himself to go deep [into games],” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “So whenever he doesn’t go deep and it raises your eyebrows. But he’s so routine-oriented and he’s such a hard worker behind the scenes. I just told him, ‘You know, you can’t throw a complete game shutout every Opening Day.”

Hendricks allowed three runs on four hits over his three innings of work, earning his first loss of the season. He struck out four and walked three. It’s the first time Hendricks has walked three or more batters in a game since April 1, 2019 against Atlanta.

“Just command-wise, really starting with the fastball. It was terrible and lead-off walks,” Hendricks said. “Just lead off guys in general, getting on base just set a terrible town for the group. We’ve got to reset. I guess good news is we have 161 more, but got to flip that around. Can’t let that happen again.”

But Hendricks wasn’t the only Cub who was unable to throw strikes consistently. Seven of eight Cubs pitchers who appeared in the game walked at least one batter and allowed the lead-off man to reach by walk six times. The 11 walks are their most allowed since walking 12 on March 30, 2019, against the Rangers.

The offense looked eerily similar to the last time they played at a cold Wrigley Field in the postseason. They managed just two hits against Pirates pitching during the opener with one hit after the first inning.

“I don’t put a lot of stock in this one, but you know,, it counts now and you want to win them all,” Ross said. “You try to move forward. Hopefully, we learned some lessons today. … I know there are some things that stood out that we can be better at. We’ve got to pay attention to some small details. Even when we are walking guys and not hitting, there’s some other things that need to be cleaned up.”

Read More

After police shot and killed a 13-year-old boy in what officials described as an “armed confrontation” in Little Village early Monday, everyone from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to community activists to the boy’s neighbors on Thursday called for the release of videos that could shed light on what happened.

Meanwhile, the boy’s mother said she also wants answers about the death of her son, who she said wanted to be a police officer when he grew up.

Adam Toledo, 13, who lived about a mile and half from the incident in an alley west of the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue, was shot in his chest and later died, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

In a statement, police said officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert about 2:35 a.m. that morning and saw two males. One person, who was allegedly armed, ran from the scene and was shot by an officer during the “armed confrontation,” police said.

Police shared a photo of a gun allegedly recovered at the scene.

That person, later identified as Adam, died at the scene, police said. Authorities took four days to release Adam’s name as they waited to notify next-of-kin, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said.

The other person who ran from police, 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr. of Edgewater, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest, police said. In 2019, Roman pleaded guilty to illegal gun possession stemming from an arrest in Evanston and was sentenced to probation, court records show.

Elizabeth Toledo, Adam’s mom, said in a phone interview Thursday that she doesn’t know what happened to her son, who she last saw Sunday when they attended a memorial service for a relative who died.

She told the Sun-Times she “just wants answers about what really happened.”

“I haven’t heard from cops since yesterday when they knocked on my door,” said Toledo, 44.

Court order needed for video release, officials say

The officer in Monday’s incident was placed on desk duty for 30 days while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigates the shooting, police said.

The shooting was captured by body-worn camera, but it wasn’t immediately clear if investigators would release it, COPA said in a statement Thursday.

COPA is required to release body camera video of police shootings within 60 days of the incident, but policy prohibits them from sharing video if the victim is under 18 years old, the agency said. Without a court order, the video would not be released, COPA said.

However, investigators will release other evidence including 911 calls, police reports and radio transmissions within 60 days, COPA said.

In a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has a 13-year-old daughter, said she “can only imagine the incredible pain this boy’s parents are experiencing at this moment. My heart goes out to them.”

She said while the case was still under investigation, “we must ask ourselves how our social safety net failed this boy leading to the tragic events in the early hours of Monday morning. While the investigation is ongoing, it is critically important that COPA releases relevant videos first to the family, and then to the public, as quickly as possible with appropriate protections given his age.”

Police Supt. David Brown said the shooting was “tragic” and “adamantly” called for the release of videos.

“My greatest fear as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department has been a deadly encounter between one of our own and a juvenile especially given the recent rise in violent crimes involving juveniles throughout our city,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, this fear became a reality earlier this week.”

Lea este articulo en espanol en La Voz Chicago, un servicio presentado por AARP Chicago.

‘Very disheartening’

Adam’s mom said the family moved to Little Village in November. The boy reportedly attended Gary Elementary School on 31st Street.

“He was always happy. He loved animals. He was loving to all his siblings,” she said.

And, she said, “he wanted to be a cop when he grew up. And next thing you know, a cop took his life,” she said.

Near the scene of the incident on Thursday, which took place behind Farragut Career Academy High School, residents gathered for a yard sale and formed a line along 24th Street where a local church was holding a food drive.

A surveillance video taken from a camera at Amor de Dios United Methodist Church, which is at the corner of 24th and Sawyer, caught flashes of light from the shooting and additional police officers as they arrived on the scene. However, neither the officer who fired the shots nor Adam could be seen in the video.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Pastor Ramiro Rodriguez, who lives in the 2300 block of South Sawyer, said his son heard the gunshots early Monday morning but neither witnessed the incident.

“I feel for the kids around here,” Rodriguez said in Spanish. ” … What happened here is not what we want, we want the best for our families and for our youth.”

Rodriguez said he does not know Adam or his family, but said he turned over the security footage to detectives.

Many at the food drive expressed shock to hear that the person gunned down by police behind their homes was so young. Nakia Smith, a mother of a 13-year-old boy herself, said she heard gunshots on early that morning, followed moments later by a swarm of blue lights.

“It’s very disheartening, especially with what happened a year ago, with the [Derek] Chauvin trial and everything,” Smith said, referring to the Minneapolis officer who is currently on trial in the murder of George Floyd. “And then Monday morning, come to find out it was a 13-year-old boy killed … it’s just quite a bit.”

She added: “I do understand that the police don’t always know what someone is going to do, but there has to be a better way.”

Meanwhile, Rafael Hurtado Jr., 30 — who said he lives a few houses down from where the medical examiner said Adam lived — urged the release of video footage related to the shooting.

“It’s hard to take CPD’s word for it” that he was armed, he said. “Especially with everything that’s been going on with the police shootings in other places.”

He said that “it’s tragic for everyone involved, for the family, for the kid because he was so young and for the officer who pulled the trigger.”

Activists skeptical of police version

Anthony Gonzalez, an organizer with the community group Mi Villita Neighbors, said he was personally “shocked because it is like when does the violence from police end?”

He was skeptical of the police version of events.

“I don’t think we know the full story but we can’t take the police’s word for it,” he said.

Chicago police

But local Ald. George Cardenas (12th), who said he has many unanswered questions about the shooting, said “COPA has told me that the gun was found near his body.”

Cardenas urged Little Village residents to keep their cool and “wait for the facts to play out.”

“We’re trying to keep the peace and keep everybody as informed as possible so that people don’t jump to conclusions until all the facts are born out,” he said. “I urge the community to be patient for COPA to do its work. We have challenges in Little Village. The community has reported many shootings in that area. … I pray for our young people in harm’s way. There are so many incidents we battle on a daily basis.”

Two other people have been shot by Chicago police officers this week. Early Wednesday, an officer fatally shot an armed man in Portage Park after officers chased the man on foot. An officer fired shots after the man allegedly pulled out a gun in the 5200 block of West Eddy Street, police said.

Less than an hour later, an off-duty Chicago police officer shot someone breaking into their home in Albany Park on the Northwest Side. The officer shot the man in his face about 12:55 a.m. as the man broke into the officer’s home in the 3100 block of Belle Plaine Avenue, police said. The man was rushed in serious condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Contributing: Cindy Hernandez, Frank Main

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

Read More

15 observations from the Chicago Bulls loss to the Phoenix Suns by Ryan Taylor

The Chicago Cubs lost their Opening Day game to the Pittsburgh Pirates by a final score of 5-3. It was a tough way to begin the year because they are already one of those “question mark” teams. They have a very talented roster but not a lot of people know what to expect based on the way they played in 2020. Their superstars didn’t have good offensive years last season and now they are looking to get things right in 2021.

Opening Day was tough this year for the Chicago Cubs as they try to have a big year.

It is a season with question marks largely due to the status of their stars. Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, and Kris Bryant are all playing on the final year of their deals. They were all subpar in 2020 and didn’t show up well in this game. They combined to go 1 for 10 which isn’t a great start. It makes it worse is that the one hit by Anthony was one of two hits by the teams as a whole. They clearly need them to contribute offense in order to succeed.

The Pirates are not a good team to lose to at any point. They are projected to be one of the worst teams in the league. Projections mean nothing but when you look at the roster you can see the flaws. The Cubs should be able to take care of them but they looked rough for the entire game.

One of the team’s bright spots in 2020 was Kyle Hendricks. Like the rest of his peers, he didn’t have a good start. He only went three innings where he gave up three runs on four hits. He issued three walks and had four strikeouts. As the ace of the staff, he needs to be much better than that. He will bounce back but wasn’t able to get it done in game number one.

Related Story: Three bold 2021 Chicago Cubs predictions

The Cubs have tomorrow off but will be back at it on Saturday against these Pirates. They need to be better in order to beat the Pirates clearly. They can’t just beat them because they are better than them. With Jake Arrieta on the mound, you can expect them to have a better attitude as a whole. This was a bad way to start the season as mentioned before in a season that already had questions.

Read More

When Rodney Hawkins, 20, and two others tried to steal cash, shoes and a car from Kieer Pargo and another man at a Pullman Citgo Saturday, Pargo shot Hawkins. But then one of Hawkins’ cohorts returned fire and killed Pargo, Cook County prosecutors said.

A Roseland man has been charged with the murder of a man who was shot and killed during a shootout following a botched armed robbery at a Far South Side gas station.

When Rodney Hawkins, 20, and two others allegedly tried to steal cash, shoes and a car from Kieer Pargo and another man at a Pullman Citgo Saturday, Pargo shot Hawkins.

But then one of Hawkins’ cohorts returned fire and killed Pargo, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.

The gunman and Hawkins’ other cohort have not yet been charged.

Hawkins’ face could be “clearly seen” on high-definition surveillance footage around 11:30 p.m. purchasing a bag of Swedish Fish with a cohort at the gas station’s store, at 701 E. 103rd St., Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

While Hawkins was inside, Pargo and his 34-year-old friend pulled up and parked at a fuel pump behind the minivan that Hawkins and his friends had arrived in, Murphy said.

Pargo, 36, waited inside the car while his friend went inside to make a purchase.

As Pargo’s friend was coming in, Hawkins and his cohort asked him “What was up?” as they were leaving, Murphy said.

Pargo’s friend said that he wasn’t from the neighborhood and continued inside.

Hawkins and his cohort went back to their minivan, retrieved guns and went back to the store to confront Pargo’s friend as he was leaving, Murphy said.

Hawkins then allegedly told the man, he knew “what time it was.”

Pargo’s friend responded by dropping $3,000 in cash to the ground.

Hawkins grabbed the money and walked the victim back to his car at gunpoint, Murphy said.

Then, Hawkins and his two cohorts pulled Pargo out of the car and went through his and his friend’s pockets, Murphy said. After searching the car, Hawkins and his cohorts allegedly announced they were also going to steal the car, Murphy said.

As Hawkins walked back to the minivan with some of the victims’ belongings, Pargo pulled out a gun and shot Hawkins at close range, Murphy said.

Hawkins’ cohorts then returned fire, striking Pargo, who later died at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Hawkins was loaded into the minivan by his friends, who took him to Jackson Park Hospital, Murphy said. An ambulance outside Jackson Park Hospital then took Hawkins to the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Police were not notified of the hospital transfer and were unaware of where Hawkins was hospitalized for three days, Murphy said.

During that time, Hawkins’ parents’ home was “shot up” and his mother and father went to a police station to report the damage and Hawkins’ encounter at the Citgo. During the interview with detectives, the couple identified their son on the gas station’s security footage, Murphy said.

Hawkins allegedly confessed to his role in the attempted robbery and identified himself in the surveillance footage while he was hospitalized. His fingerprints were also found on a gun he dropped at the gas station after he was shot, Murphy said.

Hawkins remained hospitalized and did not appear in court Thursday.

An assistant public defender noted that Hawkins did not fire any weapon during the deadly incident.

Judge Arthur Wesley Willis ordered Hawkins held on $2 million cash bond.

Hawkins’ case is up again on April 15.

Read More

Until the stands are full again, until the buzz is back and the masks are off, we’ll probably all feel stuck in an unsatisfying place; betwixt and between; sort of back to normal, but not really.

So, do we turn this into more than it was? More than a smattering of fans in the seats at a baseball game? More than a quiet turning of the page Thursday afternoon as Opening Day arrived at arctic weather station Wrigley Field?

We probably should. For the first time in a year and three weeks, there were people on hand at a pro sports game in Chicago who weren’t working. People who weren’t playing, coaching, reporting or keeping the building running but were simply being entertained. People who were eating hotdogs, drinking beer and being mirthful insofar as a polar wind that surely made them question all their life choices allowed.

Wrigley wasn’t crowded as the Cubs lost 4-2 to the Pirates — with an announced attendance of 10,343, close to the 25% capacity allowed for now at each of the city’s ballparks — but it was pregnant with something resembling normalcy. It wasn’t at full buzz, but it was alive. What a difference from the solitary, sad, almost spooky scenes of a season ago.

No foolin’, April 1 was the day fans came back. It was a moment to be savored.

But we’re still in a pandemic. We’re still caught somewhere in between the way things were and the way we want them to be. We’re still just beginning to practice at this back-to-normal thing.

Curt Marquardt, 67, came from South Elgin to give it a shot. A former season-ticket holder, Marquardt has been to so many season openers at Wrigley — over 30, he reckons — that he has a collection of giveaway magnets on his refrigerator from those games alone.

Retired and on spring break — he works part-time as an aide on a school bus route for physically challenged students — Marquardt said yes when his wife discovered a pair of upper-deck tickets for sale. By the time she was ready to pull the trigger, though, there was only one ticket to be had.

“I had to do it,” he said of coming, even by his lonesome. “It’s a tradition.”

Jeremy and Felisa Feign came from Louisville, Kentucky, in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary. Jeremy — a lifelong Cubs fan whose family moved from Chicago when he was five — wasn’t thinking in 30-degree terms when he hatched the plan weeks ago. This was his first visit to Wrigley in a decade and his first Opening Day.

“Sitting at home not doing anything has been hard,” he said. “However cold it is out there today, I’ll be happy.”

It was harder to be sure about Felisa, who, as her husband was being interviewed, sat across Waveland Ave. — on the bench outside the Engine 79 firehouse — in an apparent effort to squeeze an extra ray, and perhaps even an extra degree of warmth, from the sun.

Felisa’s mother is in the hospital with a blood-related illness. While there, she learned she was positive for COVID-19.

“She was pissed as hell,” Jeremy said. “If she can deal with that, we can be cold.”

But enough about the Cubs’ bats, right? Speaking of cold, the Cubs mustered all of two hits against the team most commonly pegged for the very bottom of the National League. Where have we seen this not-hitting thing before? Is there a fan alive who needed more time in the flesh watching such swing-and-a-whiff fruitlessness?

Something more unusual was the performance of starting pitcher and presumed staff ace Kyle Hendricks. Typically composed and in command — especially on his home turf — Hendricks looked lost from Pitch 1. He opened the game with a walk to Adam Frazier. He followed that by surrendering a home run to Ke’Bryan Hayes. He didn’t last long after that.

Jeez, it wasn’t supposed to unfold that way. But Hayes’ blast reached high into the bleachers in left field, and the sight of a couple of fans here and a couple there scrambling to close the spaces between themselves and the ball’s eventual landing spot was like a trip back in time. This was what it looked like most days at Wrigley in the years leading up to announcer Harry Caray’s arrival in 1982 — back before the name “Wrigleyville” was even a thing.

This was what it looked like when swaths of empty seats and rows at Wrigley were due to team futility and fan apathy, not a deadly virus.

Until the stands are full again, until the buzz is back and the masks are off, we’ll probably all feel stuck in an unsatisfying place; betwixt and between; sort of back to normal, but not really.

Opening Day was at least a step toward that. It was nice to take it.

Read More

The boy was identified Thursday as Adam Toledo by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

After police shot and killed a 13-year-old boy in what officials described as an “armed confrontation” in Little Village early Monday, everyone from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to community activists to the boy’s neighbors on Thursday called for the release of videos that could shed light on what happened.

Adam Toledo, 13, who lived about a mile and half from the incident in an alley west of the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue, was shot in his chest and later died, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

In a statement, police said officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert about 2:35 a.m. that morning and saw two males. One person, who was allegedly armed, ran from the scene and was shot by an officer during the “armed confrontation,” police said.

Police shared a photo of a gun allegedly recovered at the scene.

That person, later identified as Adam, died at the scene, police said. Authorities took four days to release Adam’s name as they waited to notify next-of-kin, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said.

The other person who ran from police, 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr. of Edgewater, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest, police said. In 2019, Roman pleaded guilty to illegal gun possession stemming from an arrest in Evanston and was sentenced to probation, court records show.

Court order needed for video release

The officer in Monday’s incident was placed on desk duty for 30 days while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigates the shooting, police said.

The shooting was captured by body-worn camera, but it wasn’t immediately clear if investigators would release it, COPA said in a statement Thursday.

COPA is required to release body camera video of police shootings within 60 days of the incident, but policy prohibits them from sharing video if the victim is under 18 years old. Without a court order, the video would not be released, COPA said.

However, investigators will release other evidence including 911 calls, police reports and radio transmissions within 60 days, COPA said.

In a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has a 13-year-old daughter, said she “can only imagine the incredible pain this boy’s parents are experiencing at this moment. My heart goes out to them.”

She said while the case was still under investigation, “we must ask ourselves how our social safety net failed this boy leading to the tragic events in the early hours of Monday morning. While the investigation is ongoing, it is critically important that COPA releases relevant videos first to the family, and then to the public, as quickly as possible with appropriate protections given his age.”

Police Supt. David Brown called the shooting a tragedy and also called for the release of any relevant videos.

“My greatest fear as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department has been a deadly encounter between one of our own and a juvenile especially given the recent rise in violent crimes involving juveniles throughout our city,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, this fear became a reality earlier this week.”

‘Very disheartening’

On Thursday, on the residential block in front of the alley where the shooting took place earlier in the week, residents gathered for a yard sale and formed a line along 24th Street where a local church was holding a food drive. The incident took place behind Farragut Career Academy High School.

A surveillance video taken from a camera at Amor de Dios United Methodist Church, which is at the corner of 24th and Sawyer, caught flashes of light from the shooting and additional police officers as they arrived on the scene. However, neither the officer who fired the shots nor Adam could be seen in the video.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Pastor Ramiro Rodríguez, who lives in the 2300 block of South Sawyer, said his son heard the gunshots early Monday morning but neither witnessed the incident.

“I feel for the kids around here,” Rodriguez said in Spanish. “ … What happened here is not what we want, we want the best for our families and for our youth.”

Rodriguez said he does not know Adam or his family, but said he turned over the security footage to detectives.

Many at the food drive expressed shock to hear that the person gunned down by police behind their homes was so young. Nakia Smith, a mother of a 13-year-old boy herself, said she heard gunshots on early that morning, followed moments later by a swarm of blue lights.

“It’s very disheartening, especially with what happened a year ago, with the [Derek] Chauvin trial and everything,” Smith said, referring to the Minneapolis officer who is currently on trial in the murder of George Floyd. “And then Monday morning, come to find out it was a 13-year-old boy killed … it’s just quite a bit.”

She added: “I do understand that the police don’t always know what someone is going to do, but there has to be a better way.”

Meanwhile, Rafael Hurtado Jr., 30 — who lives a few houses down from where the medical examiner said Adam lived — urged the release of video footage related to the shooting.

“It’s hard to take CPD’s word for it” that he was armed, he said. “Especially with everything that’s been going on with the police shootings in other places.”

He said that “it’s tragic for everyone involved, for the family, for the kid because he was so young and for the officer who pulled the trigger.”

Activists skeptical of police version

Anthony Gonzalez, an organizer with the community group Mi Villita Neighbors, said he was personally “shocked because it is like when does the violence from police end?”

He was skeptical of the police version of events.

“I don’t think we know the full story but we can’t take the police’s word for it,” he said.

Chicago police

But local Ald. George Cardenas (12th), who said he has many unanswered questions about the shooting, said “COPA has told me that the gun was found near his body.”

Cardenas urged Little Village residents to keep their cool and “wait for the facts to play out.”

“We’re trying to keep the peace and keep everybody as informed as possible so that people don’t jump to conclusions until all the facts are born out,” he said. “I urge the community to be patient for COPA to do its work. We have challenges in Little Village. The community has reported many shootings in that area. Shots fired constantly night after night. … I pray for our young people in harm’s way. There are so many incidents we battle on a daily basis.”

Two other people have been shot by Chicago police officers this week. Early Wednesday, an officer fatally shot an armed man in Portage Park after officers chased the man on foot. An officer fired shots after the man allegedly pulled out a gun in the 5200 block of West Eddy Street, police said.

Less than an hour later, an off-duty Chicago police officer shot someone breaking into their home in Albany Park on the Northwest Side. The officer shot the man in his face about 12:55 a.m. as the man broke into the officer’s home in the 3100 block of Belle Plaine Avenue, police said. The man was rushed in serious condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Contributing: Cindy Hernandez, Frank Main

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

Read More

Read More

As published in the Chicago Daily News, sister publication of the Chicago Sun-Times:

They both reached for the gun — but she got it first.

On April 3, 1924, 23-year-old Beulah “Anne” Annan shot her lover and coworker, Harry Kalstedt, in her South Side apartment while her husband, Al, was at work.

According to the report published in the Chicago Daily News the following day, Annan told assistant state’s attorney Roy Woods she “danced to the tune of jazz records a passionate death dance, with the body of the man she had shot and killed.”

The dramatic crime and subsequent press coverage that focused on Annan’s “most striking appearance” turned her into a celebrity — and later an inspiration. Chicago Tribune crime reporter Maurine Watkins, who covered Annan and other women accused of murder in 1924, adapted her experiences into the play, and later musical, “Chicago.” Annan inspired the character Roxie Hart.

Much of the report came directly from Annan herself. She held court at the Harrison Street Police Station, answering all questions and waxing poetic about love.

“I didn’t love Harry so much — but he brought me wine and made a fuss over me and thought I was pretty,” she told reporters. “I don’t think I ever loved anybody very much. You know how it is — you keep looking and looking all the time for someone you can really love.”

Kalstedt, who worked with Annan at a laundromat, invited himself and two quarts of wine over to Annan’s apartment around 12:30 p.m., she said.

“We drank all of it and began to quarrel. I taunted Harry with the fact that he had been in jail once and he said something nasty back to me. Seems like we just wanted to make each other mad — and to hurt each other,” Annan said.

In her rage, Annan called Kalstedt a name, her “magnolia-white skin flushing and paling as she recited her narrative of death,” the paper reported. Kalstedt told her, “You won’t call me a name like that,” and he headed straight for the bedroom.

According to Annan, Kalstedt could only be going after one thing: a gun. Though usually tucked under a pillow, the gun sat on the bed in plain sight.

“I ran, and as he reached out to pick the gun up off the bed, reached around him and grabbed it. Then I shot. They say I shot him in the back, but it must have been sort of under the arm,” she recalled.

Kalstedt fell back against the wall. The record playing “Hula Lou” came to a stop “as the man in the bedroom breathed his last,” the paper said.

Annan told reporters she couldn’t stand the silence, and she restarted the record. After washing the blood off her hands, she took a washcloth to Kalstedt’s face and kissed him. “Then I went back and started the record over again.”

The shot, the paper said, was fired around 2 p.m., but Annan didn’t call for help until after 5 p.m. “I just kept going back and forth between the living room and the bedroom, where Harry’s body lay, and playing the phonograph,” she said.

It wasn’t until Annan’s husband returned home that the police were finally called — and the media circus began.

Want more on what happened to Beulah Annan? Sign up to get Saturday’s “This week in history” newsletter here and see just how close Roxie embodies Beulah in “Chicago.”

Read More