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Tragedy Strikes Downtown Chicago: Teen Shot Dead, Eight Wounded After Holiday Festivities
CHICAGO – The spirit of the holiday season was tragically overshadowed in downtown Chicago Friday night as a 14-year-old boy was killed and eight other teenagers sustained injuries in two separate shooting incidents. The violence erupted just hours after the city’s official tree lighting ceremony, a beacon of festive cheer for families and residents.
The first mass shooting occurred around 9:50 p.m. outside the Chicago Theater on State Street, mere blocks from Daley Plaza, where the tree lighting had taken place. Less than an hour later, a second shooting unfolded near Federal Plaza.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, addressing the community, lamented the senseless acts. “The holiday season is a time when we come together as a city.
It’s when we spend time with our family and our loved ones,” Johnson stated. “This is the opposite type of behavior that anybody wants to see.
We have too many guns and too many young people who don’t value their own lives or the lives of others.”
Reports indicate that a “teen takeover” involving approximately 300 youths rioting in the streets followed the tree lighting event. Mayor Johnson acknowledged the detrimental impact, stating the chaos “set us back as a city, and it evokes fear.”
Eyewitnesses reported a significant police and ambulance presence, with police tape cordoning off State Street near the Chicago Theater and Joffrey Ballet. Local news outlets also reported gunfire near their studios.
According to the Chicago Police Department, officers on patrol “observed a large group on the sidewalk” and subsequently heard gunshots, causing the crowd to scatter. Among the injured were three boys aged 14 to 17 who sustained graze wounds, two others aged 14 and 16 with leg wounds, and a 14-year-old girl shot in the hip. A 13-year-old girl, shot in the leg, was transported to Lurie Children’s Hospital in fair condition.
Alderman Brian Hopkins initially shared details on social media, reporting “300 juveniles rioting in the Loop now, at least 5 victims shot, one critical with life threatening gunshot wound to torso. Multiple police officers attacked and injured with mace and stun guns, at least one PO hospitalized.”
The second incident, occurring at 10:40 p.m., tragically claimed the life of one individual who succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds at Northwestern Memorial. An 18-year-old was also found in serious condition with a leg wound.
Authorities recovered five weapons and made 18 arrests throughout the night, though Mayor Johnson clarified that those in custody were not considered suspects in the shootings.
“No parent wants to get that terrible, life-altering call,” Mayor Johnson said Saturday morning at an unrelated event. “It is senseless violence like these shootings that makes us all feel unsafe, and it has left too many families in Chicago reeling.”
Despite the deployment of 700 additional police officers and community violence intervention workers for the tree lighting, Mayor Johnson acknowledged the insufficient preventative measures. “Clearly what we put in place did not do enough to prevent what we were concerned about from actually manifesting,” he stated.
In response to the recent events, Mayor Johnson announced further police personnel deployments for Saturday night’s Mag Mile Lights Festival. “We will continue to make the necessary adjustments as we move along to ensure that these large, peaceful, citywide events can take place without the terror and the harm of gun violence,” he added.
The City Council recently vetoed a “snap curfew” proposal for youth gatherings. Mayor Johnson stressed the need for safe spaces for young people while condemning violent gatherings.
“I’m the first person to recognize that we have more work to do in this city to provide safe spaces for our young people. But these types of violent gatherings can never be an alternative, nor can they be normalized,” he said.
“We need to deter them from attending large, unsanctioned after-gatherings, where weapons are likely to be present. There’s always more we as adults can do to make sure that we know where our kids are and what they are doing.”
While former President Donald Trump has previously commented on Chicago’s violence, attributing recent declines to his administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration raids, official statistics from the Chicago Tribune indicate a decrease in homicides. Through November 14, 2023, there have been 373 homicides in the city, 242 fewer than the same period in 2022, which saw a total of 573 homicides.