Chicago’s finest have come under gunfire from brazen bad guys four times in the past four days. The most recent incident happened Tuesday at about midnight. For no apparent reason, a pair of thugs opened fire on two police officers leaving their firearms certification course.
The bullets missed the officers, but hit another vehicle nearby, narrowly missing the occupants. The officers pursued their attackers, quickly catching up to them. In an exchange of gunfire, one of the two cops shot and critically wounded both suspects.
Violence in Mogadishu on Lake Michigan continues unabated from last year’s 20-year high. With 268 homicides and 1450-ish people shot so far this year, the Windy City’s crime problem continues to spiral out of control. And now criminals apparently feel emboldened to simply shoot at the police when the urge strikes them.
The Chicago Tribune has a quick rundown of the mayhem in Mayor Emanuel’s gun control utopia.
Late Friday night, officers fatally shot Corsean Lewis, 17, in the 5800 block of South Wabash Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhood, according to officials.
Officers with the summer mobile unit had responded to a call of a person with a gun and were approaching a group of people when someone fired a shot at the officers, hitting the front bumper of the unmarked police car, according to officials.
Officers returned fire, striking the teen several times, according to police. Officers found a gun at the scene, and they believe the teen was the one who had fired the shot at them, according to officials.
About 24 hours later, officers working a similar summer mobile unit farther south in the 8100 block of South Maryland Avenue were involved in another shooting. A police officer and another man were wounded.
The man had run from officers who had seen him drinking outside. He went into a nearby apartment building, where there was a struggle over a gun. An officer was shot in the hand, and the officer’s partner shot at the man, critically wounding him, police said.
Monday night, a 12-year-old boy and two 17-year-olds were arrested after shots were fired at police in the Lawndale neighborhood. Officers did not return fire, and no one was injured, police said.
It doesn’t take much of an imagination to figure what would happen to any police officer who justifiably shoots and kills a 12-year-old boy in Chicago. Interesting times.