A rash of shootings, one deadly, near the site of this year’s Taste of Chicago festival blemished the event and
showcased the rampant gun violence plaguing some of the city’s neighborhoods.
The violence began July 3 when Chicagoans viewing the city’s annual fireworks display on the lakefront got more excitement than expected after the show. The crowd was still inching their way home when shots rang out on Dearborn Street, just west of Grant Park where thousands had gathered to enjoy the heralded display. According to police reports, Courtney Thomas was struck by gunfire around 10:40 that night. The 19-year-old Chicago native was shot in the head and pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital less than an hour later, according to the Cook Country Medical Examiner’s office. Police officials said the shooting appears to be gang related. The homicide investigation continues, Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department, told the Defender. Additionally, a 17-year-old male was shot at approximately the same time as Thomas about a block away. The teen was treated at an area hospital for a gunshot wound to the arm and then released, according to police. Two 15 year olds were also shot nearby. One was shot in the buttocks and a bullet grazed the other in the head. Both were treated at area hospitals and released. Police made an arrest in the July 3 shooting incidents. An unidentified teenager was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, Bond said. Only two days later, a fifth shooting occurred. A 22-year-old male was wounded near the Taste grounds early Saturday morning. In the days following the shootings, police were visible at the Taste site and on nearby blocks, in train stations and along thoroughfares surrounding the annual lakefront event. Mayor Richard M. Daley had been out of town when the shootings occurred, but he spoke out on the violence Tuesday at an unrelated press conference. “Any type of shooting is serious,” Daley said. He said that city and police officials were not more concerned about violence happening downtown than in other parts of the city. The mayor defended the police saying that they could not have known that the shootings would occur. The city estimated that more than 3.5 million people visited this year’s Taste of Chicago that ran from June 27-July 6.
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