Warm Saturday turns weekend into one of the most violent April weekends of last decade

Update: With the addition of a 42-year-old man found beaten to death Sunday morning in the hallway of an apartment building in the 7100 block of S. Lowe in the Englewood neighborhood, the total weekend statistics are indeed the most violent April weekend in HeyJackass.com's records.

The totals for the weekend are 8 homicides, 41 wounded (49 total), from between noon on Friday, April 22 through 6:00 a.m. on Monday, April 25.

CHICAGO - While Millenium Park and the Loop was once again overwhelmed by a large group of juveniles who were fighting, running through the streets, and jumping on cars in traffic, elsewhere across the city the violence rose with the warm spring day temperatures and turned this April weekend into one of the most violent April weekends in recent memory.^[1]

According to statistics provided by HeyJackass.com, the best site for tracking Chicago's violent crime, this April weekend is already among the most violent April weekends in recent memory.^[2]

HeyJackass.com cited the weekend of 4/25/2014 - 4/28/2014 as the worst April weekend of the last 8 years, when 9 people were killed and 39 were wounded. Surprisingly, the prior weekend of 4/18/2014 - 4/21/2014 also saw 10 people killed and 36 wounded. We say it was surprising because the 2014 year was one of the least violent years for Chicago crime in recent memory.

We had a sneaking suspicion about the reason why, so we looked up the weather data for that weekend and, sure enough, historical weather data showed that April 20, 2014 hit 78 degrees and the following weekend, April 25, 2014 apparently reached 70 degrees. Both temperatures significantly higher than April averages for Chicago.

Also sure enough, this weekend's violence picked up on Saturday, April 23, as the April weather once again broke 80 degrees.

At the time of this publishing, this weekend has seen 5 people killed with an additional 35 wounded and the sun has yet to set on Sunday. Weekend statistics are tracked from noon on Friday until 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning.

News organizations can't report on every incident so, to give readers a better perspective, we've outlined incidents below that occurred in a single, 24-hour period this weekend. Listed is every incident (NOTE: As reported by the Chicago Police Department) starting from 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2022 to 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 24, 2022.

Saturday's violence began just before 1:00 p.m. in the 4700 block of S. Cottage Grove in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

Police said a male of unknown age was shot after a physical altercation with an unknown male offender. The victim was shot twice to the chest and was transported to the University of Chicago, where he was pronounced dead.

The offender fled northbound and is not in custody. Area Detectives are investigating.

A little more than a half hour later, around 1:35 p.m. in the 1300 block of W. Morse in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the city's north side, a 40-year-old male victim was in an alley when he sustained a gunshot wound to the right arm by an unknown offender.

The victim was transported to St. Francis Hospital in good condition. Area Three Detectives are investigating.

At approximately 3:36 p.m. in the 1400 block of W. Wilcox in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the city's west side, a 30-year-old male victim, a 28-year-old male victim, and a 43-year-old male were on the sidewalk when a light-colored van pulled up. An unknown offender inside the vehicle produced a firearm and fired shots at the victims.

The 30-year-old victim sustained a gunshot wound to the buttocks and was transported to West Suburban Hospital in good condition. The 28-year-old victim sustained a gunshot wound to the right shoulder, and the right arm, and was transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. The 43-year-old male victim sustained a gunshot wound to the left arm and was transported to Stroger Hospital in good condition.

Area Four detectives are investigating.

A short time after 5:00 p.m. in the 3600 block of W. Schraeder in the East Garfield Park neighbhorhood on the city's west side, a 50-year-old male victim was in a park when an unknown vehicle pulled up and an unknown offender inside the vehicle produced a firearm and fired shots at the victim.

The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the buttocks and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition. Area Four Detectives are investigating.

Almost exactly an hour later, in the 7000 block of S. Jeffery Boulevard in the Jackson Park Highlands (part of the South Shore community area), a 29-year-old male victim was on the street when a gray vehicle pulled up and an unknown offender inside the vehicle produced a firearm and fired shots at the victim.

The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the left flank and was transported to Jackson Park Hospital in critical condition. Area One Detectives are investigating.

About 25 minutes later, back in West Garfield Park in the 4400 block of W. Adams, a 19-year-old male victim was on the street when he sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body by an unknown offender.

The teenager was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition. Area Four detectives are investigating.

At 7:26 p.m., in the 2400 block of W. 25th Street in the Little Village neighborhood, a 16-year-old male was walking on the sidewalk when he heard shots and felt pain. The teen sustained a gunshot wound to the left side of the chest and was transported to the hospital by a family member in good condition.

No one in custody, area four detectives are investigating.

Less than 4 minutes later, at 7:30 p.m., in the 1900 block of W. Garfield Boulevard in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, four male victims were on the sidewalk when a gray vehicle drove by and an unknown offender inside the vehicle produced a firearm and fired shots at the victims.

A 42-year-old male victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital where he was pronounced dead. A 24-year-old male victim sustained a gunshot wound to the back, the left arm, and was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital in serious condition. A 48-year-old male victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was transported to Mount Sinai where he was pronounced dead. A fourth 65-year-old male victim sustained three gunshot wounds to the back and two more to the right leg and was transported to Mount Sinai in good condition.

Area One Detectives are investigating.

About 45 minutes later, also in the Back of the Yards neighborhood but on the 5300 block of S. Damen, a 40-year-old female was in a residence when she sustained a graze wound to the back by an unknown offender.

The victim was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital in good condition. Area One Detectives are investigating.

At 10:00 p.m., in the 100 block of W. Hubbard in the River North neighborhood on the city's near north side, a 33-year-old male allegedly recognized an individual from a previous incident as one of the offenders and confronted him. The male that was approached then allegedly retrieved a handgun and shot at the victim five times.

The victim sustained multiple gunshots to the body and was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital by the Chicago Fire Department in critical condition.

No one is in custody and Area Three detectives continue to investigate the incident, but you can read more about that incident here at CWBChicago: Man shot, critically wounded in River North

At almost the exact same time, a 33-year-old male was standing on the sidewalk in the 800 block of N. Trumbull in the Humboldt Park neighborhood when he heard shots and felt pain. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the left leg and right hip and was dropped off at Stroger hospital in good condition.

No one is in custody, Area Four Detectives are investigating.

Just after 10:00 p.m., on the 800 block of W. 31st Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood, officers responded to a shot spotter call in the area and discovered two individuals on the street that were shot.

Victim #1 is a 20-year-old male who sustained four gunshot wounds throughout the body while victim #2 is a 32-year-old male who sustained one gunshot wound to the left armpit area. Both victims were taken to Stroger hospital in good condition.

Officers attempted to get details about the incident from both of the individuals and witnesses on scene, but all refused to cooperate with officers. No one in custody, area one detectives are investigating.

A little after 11:30 p.m., in the 6200 block of S. Francisco in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, officers were responding to a person shot in the area and discovered a 26-year-old male on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. The Chicago Fire Department attempted to treat and save him, but the victim died from his wounds on scene.

One person of interest was taken to the area for questioning but no weapon was recovered on scene. Area Detectives continue to investigate.

Just after midnight, a 39-year-old male was standing on the sidewalk on the 200 block of N. Homan, back in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, when an unknown vehicle approached and two unknown males exited and began shooting in the victim’s direction. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and back and was dropped off at Mt Sinai hospital in critical condition.

A second 39-year-old female victim was discovered a short time later after she had self transported to Stroger hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, where she was in good condition.

No one is in custody, area four detectives continue to investigate the incident.

At 12:26 a.m. in the 6200 block of S. Winchester in the Englewood neighborhood, two victims, a 40-year-old male and a 34-year-old female, were hanging out in the garage when they both heard shots and felt pain. The 40-year-old male victim sustained a gunshot wound to the lower right leg and was transported to University of Chicago Hospital in good condition. The 34-year-old female victim sustained a gunshot wound to the left thigh and was transported to Christ Hospital in good condition.

No one is in custody, area detectives continue to investigate.

At 1:12 a.m., in the 3600 block of W. Douglas Boulevard in the Lawndale neighborhood, a 17-year-old girl was discovered shot in the rear area of the residence. The teenage girl suffered a gunshot wound to each leg and was transported by the Chicago Fired Department to Mt Sinai in good condition.

No one in custody, area detectives are investigating.

At 1:30 a.m., in the 1400 block of N. Talman back in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, a 26-year-old male victim was dropped off at Humboldt Park Health with a gunshot wound to the right hip in good condition. But the victim refused to answer any questions about the incident with officers and remained uncooperative when asked about the incident.

No one in custody, area five detectives are investigating.

A little after 1:45 a.m., a 31-year-old male was standing on the 10400 block of S. Calumet in Roseland when a known male offender began shooting at the victim and then fled the scene. Victim sustained a gunshot wound to the right and left upper thigh and was transported by the Chicago Fire Department to Christ Hospital in critical condition.

No one in custody, area two detectives are investigating.

At 2:36 a.m., in the 7400 block of S. Prairie in the Park Manor neighborhood, which is part of the Greater Grand Crossing community area, officers responding to a shot spotter call in the area discovered a 29-year-old male shot on the ground. The victim was very uncooperative with police. Officers discovered he had sustained a gunshot wound to the left ankle and was transported by the Chicago Fire Department to University of Chicago in good condition.

A weapon was recovered on scene. No one is in custody, area one detectives are investigating.

Less than 10 minutes later, in the 1200 block of N. Pulaski again in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, a 41-year-old male victim was getting out of his car when an unknown male offender began shooting at the victim, striking him multiple times, and then fled in a different vehicle. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the stomach and left leg and was transported by the Chicago Fire Department to Stroger hospital in good condition.

No one is in custody, area four detectives are investigating.

After a short break, around 4:18 a.m. in 2700 block of S. Pulaski also in the Little Village neighborhood, a 21-year-old male was the passenger in a vehicle when another passenger flagged down officers in the area. Officers discovered the victim with a gunshot wound to the head and he was transported to Mt Sinai hospital in critical condition.

The witness said a black sedan chased them and began firing into the vehicle. No one in custody, area four detectives are investigating.

At 4:30 a.m., officers conducted a well-being check in the 7100 block of S. Lowe Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood, and found a 42-year-old man beaten in the hallway of an apartment building.

The man was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 7:30 a.m.

Not long after, at 4:43 a.m. on the 400 block of S. Pulaski back in West Garfield Park again, a 57-year-old man was allegedly in a verbal altercation with an unknown offender when the offender produced a handgun and began firing multiple times at the victim. The 57-year-old victim sustained multiple gunshots to the body and was pronounced dead on scene.

The offender entered a vehicle and fled the scene. No one in custody, area four detectives are investigating.

Again, these incidents listed above were only for a 24-hour period starting from 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2022 to 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Weekend statistics are tracked from noon on Friday until 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning.

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Notes & References