Neighborhood News

Published October 17, 2019 By Justin Kerr

Police and media reports noted the drive-by shooting of a McKinley Park neighborhood man at West 37th and South Wood streets at 6:42 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16. Police investigators cordoned off the area with cruisers and yellow tape for hours following the shooting.

The man was hit in the head, neck and back and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Police said the shooting came from a black SUV that drove up alongside the man, who was on the sidewalk when he was shot.

A police surveillance camera overlooks the site of the shooting from the southeast corner of West 37th and South Wood streets.The southeast corner of 37th and Wood streets hosts a Chicago Police Department surveillance camera. This past summer, the nearby area encountered an instance of gunfire injury, and police stated they were deploying a tactical team to focus on a gang and drug hot spot about a block away.

In the fall of 2018, the 12th Ward office concluded efforts to evict a gang house about a half-block away from the October 16 shooting.

UPDATE: In a statement posted to a McKinley Park neighborhood Facebook group, 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas shared additional details provided by the 9th District of the Chicago Police Department: The individual who was shot is a known gang member recently released from incarceration, Cardenas said police sources related to him. This person was on the block, displaying gang signs, when a driver stopped, exited the vehicle and shot six or seven times, the statement from Cardenas said. The individual is likely to survive, and the investigation is ongoing, the statement said.