CHICAGO (SCS) — A night of street racing ended in gunfire in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood. Five people were shot and three of them died early Sunday morning.
A resident who lives above nearby businesses told CBS 2’s Shardaa Gray that everyone was enjoying themselves, then shots rang out.
“I just hear pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop and, shoosh, I’m gone,” Darrell Cross said.
Several circles of donuts were still visible Sunday at the intersection of Archer and Kedzie.
Cross has lived near there for five years. He heard the street racing and came out to see what was going on.
“It was just jammed with cars. All directions, four directions. Kedzie, Archer, it was a complete stop. People were sitting on top of their cars, watching people spin over there,” said Cross.
These three people died and two others were seriously injured. CPD Commander Don Jerome said officers responded to the scene in the 4300 block of South Kedzie in the Brighton Park area at around 4am to reports of a large caravan of 100 cars drifting in the middle of the street. Thirteen shots were reported via ShotSpotter.
“Everyone was having fun and the next thing you know is all the chaos,” Cross said.
In July, the city passed an ordinance aimed at cracking down on illegal drag racing and drifting. The consequences are the towing of the vehicle and a fine ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.
Aldus. Raymond Lopez said it didn’t work.
“It didn’t work out last night,” he said. “And it wasn’t just here. If it had been nipped in the bud in the very first place this cycle of stupidity started last night, we wouldn’t have five people slaughtered here right now.”
Lopez said residents were tired of the chaos, but accepted the noise and did not file a complaint with the police because they felt helpless.
“So because we’re not taking an aggressive stance to enforce it, every day now voters are stopping their 911 calls because they see it as a waste of time. But if we show consequences, I’m sure people will start calling again,” he said.
Lopez said its working-class residents are tired of feeling trapped in their own homes and are afraid to come out because they don’t want to be trapped in a situation like Saturday night.
The victims were Hispanic men between the ages of 15 and 20, who had gang affiliations. Two other men remain at Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition but are expected to survive.