CHICAGO () — As summer nears its end in Chicago, the city is confronting the season’s largest mass shooting, which unfolded over the weekend.
At least 41 people were shot across Chicago from Friday through Sunday night, with three of those victims killed. The toll includes a Saturday night shooting in Washington Park that left 15 people wounded, one of them fatally.
The day in Washington Park had started with a sense of reunion and community, as former residents of the Robert Taylor Homes came together to reconnect. Hours later, the gathering was shattered by gunfire.
Bamani Obadele, who once lived in the Robert Taylor Homes, said residents and community leaders cannot allow violence like this to become accepted as part of daily life.
“This is not something we should embrace as a norm. This is unacceptable and we need to do better as a community to get out in front of these incidents,” said Obadele, who works with the community health organization Acclivus.
Obadele said he believes the gunfire was aimed at 35-year-old Rontonio Guterz, who was killed in the attack. Fourteen other people were hurt, most of whom he described as innocent bystanders caught in the violence.
Pastor Sandie Norman of Life Beyond Limit Inc. called on the people responsible to put down their weapons and end the bloodshed.
“I really want to speak to the shooters. You know what you’re doing is wrong. You know you don’t get a pass to kill people and go into these large gatherings shooting innocent people,” she said. “We have a tendency to normalize 15 people that have been shot one day and the by tomorrow the issue goes away. And it should be more accountability.”
Earlier in the day, Acclivus had a table in the park offering information about its services, including mental health therapy and crime intervention. Obadele said he is concerned that many young people will be scarred after witnessing the violence.
A short distance away in Douglass Park, another shooting left one person dead and two others injured. Acclivus is offering services to those affected by both incidents.
“We must help young people understand this is not normal behavior and this is not acceptable means to an end. We have to deal with conflict in a different way,” Obadele said.
Chicago police say they have made no arrests so far in either of those shootings. Crimestoppers is offering a reward for information.
Acclivus will host an event Tuesday to help victims and their families at their office on 54th and Wentworth from 2-6 p.m.
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