Police leaders praise response to violence, weather, NASCAR race over holiday weekend
After a long Fourth of July weekend that featured a visit from the president, the first ever NASCAR street race, historic storms and scores of mostly illegal fireworks displays, the leaders of Chicago’s emergency response agencies gathered Wednesday to praise the efforts of first responders.
“Every instance required advanced coordination and collaboration and I could not be more proud of the men and women of the Chicago Police Department,” interim police Superintendent Fred Waller said Wednesday.
But still, the holiday weekend maintained its reputation for violence as eight people were killed and another 57 were wounded in nonfatal shootings across the city between Friday evening and Tuesday night, according to police statistics.
Among those killed were 15-year-old Daniela Alvarez and 48-year-old Karina Gonzalez, who died after they were shot around midnight Sunday while they were inside a home in Little Village.
“I don’t remember, in all the time I’ve been a policeman, a weekend where we had so many things clustered together, so many events on top of Fourth of July, which historically has been probably the most violent weekend (of the year),” Waller added. “And the numbers were good up until … and we know what we faced earlier this morning.”
Waller’s “up until” comment was in reference to a mass shooting that occurred in Englewood early Wednesday. Around 4:47 a.m., five people were shot outside in the 5600 block of South Ada Street, according to police. One victim, a 35-year-old man, was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center.
Another person, a 21-year-old man, was critically injured when he was attacked with a baseball bat in the same incident. Waller said that evidence technicians recovered more than 100 spent shell casings at the scene.
Fatal shootings have ticked down slightly in 2023 compared to last year, according to police data. Through July 2, CPD detectives had initiated 303 homicide investigations on the year, down from 323 in the first six months of 2022. Aggravated batteries — nonfatal shootings — have risen by 4%, though.
And though the weekend’s severe storms delayed Sunday’s NASCAR race and caused flood damage on the city’s West Side and in the west suburbs, inclement weather can be a blessing for Chicago police officials working to tamp down the city’s entrenched gun violence. Waller acknowledged that the storms kept people inside, but again praised the efforts of CPD officers.
“The weather being what it was for NASCAR, I’m sure that that kept some people off the street who normally would be on the street,” Waller said. “I still think that we did a great job overall. You can’t say that to the people that lost their lives, that we did a great job. But the effort was there.”
Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said there were no reports of fatalities or serious injuries from fireworks over the weekend, but fireworks are believed to have ignited a fire on the Southwest Side that spread to several garages. More than 300 calls relating to fires came into the city’s 911 center on the Fourth of July, according to Fire Department officials.
“We always ask every year, we push the message out time and time again: Leave the fireworks to the professionals. But as we can see that doesn’t happen all the time,” Nance-Holt said.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has said his plan to combat violence on holidays and in general involves a broad approach connecting street outreach workers, youth programs and increased police presence across the city.
Johnson did not address violence over the long weekend Wednesday. He was visible however over the holiday, attending NASCAR events, addressing flooding and marching in the Hyde Park Fourth of July parade.
