By JEFF MAYES
Homicide Watch Chicago
Chicago Police on Monday said the number of shootings in Chicago declined for the second month in a row in April, but that didn't stop another 10 people from dying in violence in the final week of the month.
Overall, 45 people were fatally shot in Chicago in April, a month in which 313 people were injured in 247 separate shooting incidents, according to police statistics released Monday, and maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Shootings are down almost 13 percent from the same time last year, according to police. So far, there have been about 9 percent fewer shooting victims compared to 2016. Police said the decline continued from March, when 209 people were shot, 35 of them fatally.
Fifteen of the city’s 22 police districts saw a reduction or remained flat in shootings compared to this time last year, police said.At least 10 people were killed in violence last week in Chicago.
Homicides are a different story. While 2016 saw the most shootings in the city in over 20 years, 2017 is keeping pace. As of the end of April, there have been at least 190 homicides in the city, according to Sun-Times records. That is actually four more homicides than the 186 that were reported through the end of April 2016.
The week's final homicide was a 15-year-old boy who died Saturday, two days after being shot Thursday night in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Xavier Soto was walking with a 16-year-old boy at 8:03 p.m. Thursday in the 4900 block of West George when a vehicle approached and someone inside fired shots, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Soto was shot in the head and was initially listed in critical condition, police said. The older boy was in serious condition after being shot in the buttocks, thigh and arm. Both were taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where Soto was pronounced dead at 4:09 p.m. Saturday.
- A 31-year-old man was killed Friday night in a Hermosa neighborhood shooting on the Northwest Side. At 11:04 p.m., Adrian John Nieves was sitting in the back seat of a minivan parked in the 4300 block of West Altgeld when someone fired shots from a passing gray vehicle, police and the medical examiner’s office said. Nieves was shot in the head and was taken to Community First Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
- Another 31-year-old man was fatally shot Friday evening in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side. Just after 7 p.m., Alfred Stovall Jr. was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds in the 600 block of North Lorel Avenue, according to police. Stovall was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died, authorities said. He lived in the neighborhood.
- A 27-year-old man was killed and a 26-year-old man wounded in a shooting Friday evening in the Longwood Manor neighborhood on the South Side. At 5:32 p.m., the men were in the 200 block of West 98th Place when someone opened fire and they were struck, according to police. The older man, identified as Ulysses Pole III, was shot multiple times and took himself to Roseland Hospital, where he was pronounced dead minutes later, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the Washington Heights neighborhood. The 26-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was listed in critical condition.
- Another 27-year-old was fatally shot Friday morning in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. About 11:15 a.m., two gunmen walked up to Johnta Mccomb in the 200 block of South Kilpatrick Avenue and fired shots, hitting him in the back and buttocks, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. McComb was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died less than an hour later, authorities said. He lived in Austin.
- A 36-year-old man was shot to death Thursday in the South Chicago neighborhood. David Haynes Jr. was in the 8400 block of South Paxton about 5 p.m. when a vehicle pulled up and someone inside fired shots, striking him in the chest, police said. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
- A man was fatally shot Tuesday morning in the North Side Rogers Park neighborhood. Witnesses said 18-year-old Darlis Nkolomoni was being chased by another male in the 1400 block of West Jonquil Terrace about 7 a.m. when shots rang out, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Nkolomoni, who lived in the same neighborhood, was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.
- A 19-year-old man was killed in a West Englewood neighborhood shooting that also left a a 17-year-old boy wounded Monday night. Just after 7:30 p.m., Taurean Dwayne Tyler and the boy were walking in the 6900 block of South Honore when a black car approached, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. A male suspect got out and shot Tyler in the chest, authorities said. Tyler, who lived just a few blocks away, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead. The 17-year-old suffered gunshot wounds to the buttocks and leg, and was also taken to Christ, where his condition was stabilized.
- A 31-year-old man was found fatally shot Monday night after a crash in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side. Shortly after 7:30 p.m., Tony S. Britton Jr. was driving an Infiniti SUV, speeding west in the 2900 block of West Washington, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. The SUV struck a parked Hyundai Sonata, and ricocheted into a Chevrolet Malibu.
After the crash, it was discovered Britton had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. Britton, of the North Lawndale neighborhood, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Malibu was driven by a 29-year-old woman, with a 31-year-old man in the passenger seat, police said. The man suffered minor injuries.
- A 53-year-old man was killed in a South Shore neighborhood shooting Monday afternoon. Officers responding to reports of a person shot at 2:24 p.m. found Willy A. Franklin unresponsive in the stairwell of a building in the 6900 block of South Dorchester, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Franklin, who lived on the same block, suffered gunshot wounds to the face and chest; and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about half an hour later.