Chicago pastor says residents growing numb to deadly shootings
By Jermont Terry
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CHICAGO (WBBM) — Early Tuesday morning, eight people were shot in one house in the Englewood community, and four of them died.
It was the third mass shooting in two weeks in Chicago, and there was yet another one in which five people were shot in West Garfield Park on Tuesday evening. That incident happened in the 3800 block of West Monroe Street.
As CBS 2’s Jermont Terry reported, there were concerns Tuesday night that Chicago might be becoming numb to this type of violence.
According to Chicago Police, shots were fired after a quarrel inside a residence in the 6200 block of South Morgan Street around 5:45 a.m. Tuesday. Police Supt. David Brown confirmed four people, three women and one man, were pronounced dead at the scene – while four others were taken to area hospitals.
A mother was seen breaking down as she found out her daughter was gone. The aching pain was clear, and young mothers were themselves among the victims who were killed.
“We walked across the street to him, and indeed, it was a little boy whose mom had been killed a couple hours earlier there in that house,” said the Rev. Donovan Price.
Early Saturday morning, only a little over 48 hours before the Englewood mass shooting, there was also a mass shooting in Chatham that left one woman dead and nine other people wounded.
Police said the victims were standing on the sidewalk near 75th Street and Prairie Avenue around 2 a.m. Saturday, when two gunmen walked up and started shooting.
A 29-year-old woman, identified as Kimfier Miles, was shot in the abdomen and knee, and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center. The other nine victims included eight men and one woman, ranging in age from 23 to 46. All nine were in either fair or good condition, and were being treated at five separate hospitals.
On Sunday, June 6, eight people were wounded in the 8900 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in the Burnside neighborhood.
Pastor Price, with Solutions and Resources, crossed the yellow crime scene tape at the scenes of all three mass shootings. Terry asked him if he was left wondering where the outrage is when there have been so many mass shootings within two weeks.
“I think to myself, of course, I wish that more people would get mad about it,” Price said, “because when people get emotional about something, then they move, and they cause movement.”
Yet Price refuses to run out of optimism and prayer for Chicago as the city grapples with what many consider complacency with recent mass shootings.
Price: “We just opened back up – trying to get back to regular.”
Terry: “Yet regular for us has equated to violence?”
Price: “Absolutely.”
Police Supt. David Brown and Mayor Lori Lightfoot are trying to address the uphill battle. Meanwhile, Price said it is time for people to stop thinking about violence in Chicago as if it is irrelevant if it’s not happening in their neighborhood.
“‘It’s not on my block. It’s not in my community. Oh, that’s terrible to what happened over there in Englewood to them,’” Price said.
Price wants Chicagoans to understand all neighborhoods are feeling the impact of gun violence and the mass shootings.
“The lack of outcry is part of the problem,” he said.
He knows the CPD will continue to respond to more crime scenes, and now he is crying out beyond the city and state.
“Federal help – can you come to Chicago?” Price said.
Mayor Lightfoot said the federal government needs to step up and help keep guns from coming into Chicago.
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