Memorial Day weekend shootings leave 4 dead, at least 49 wounded.


At least 13 people were wounded Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning on the South and West sides as the toll from gun violence in Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend reached four dead and more than four dozen wounded.

Last year, 12 people were killed and 44 wounded over the holiday weekend.

o far this weekend, three people were killed and 12 people were wounded Friday afternoon through early Saturday; one person was killed and 24 people were wounded Saturday evening through early Sunday; and 13 people were wounded Sunday afternoon through early Monday.

The majority of the shootings have happened on the West Side, in or near the Harrison District. In response, police officials have promised to step up their presence in the district.


Among those killed this weekend was 15-year-old Veronica Lopez, who was shot to death as she rode in a Jeep on Lake Shore Drive near Fullerton Avenue early Saturday.  She is the youngest of the holiday slayings.

Garvin Whitmore, 27, a father of two, was shot in the head while sitting in a car with the mother of his children around 5:20 p.m. Saturday in the Fuller Park neighborhood on the South Side. The woman, Ashley Harrison, 26, picked up a gun from the car and fired warning shots into the air, police said.

The first homicide of the weekend happened around 11:20 p.m. Friday, in the 3700 block of West 75th Place, police said. Someone on foot shot Mark Lindsey, 25, who was sitting in a parked car, police said. The car came to rest in front of the house of Lindsey's mother, according to neighbors and police.

The fourth fatal shooting occurred around 5:15 a.m. Saturday inside a BP gas station at the corner of Narragansett and Montrose avenues on the Northwest Side in the Dunning neighborhood, police said. Damien Cionzynski, 25, of Harwood Heights, was arguing with two other men, and one of them shot him in the head. The man died on the scene.

Here are the shootings from Sunday afternoon through early Monday:

• A 19-year-old man was shot in the leg at 6:15 a.m. Monday near 64th Street and King Drive near the Parkway Gardens apartment complex, police said. The man stepped off a bus and started to walk when someone left a building in the Gardens complex and shot at him. The 19-year-old ran west, and paramedics found him at 64th and Eberhart. He was taken to University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center in good condition.

• Two 18-year-old men were wounded in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side. One was hit in the back and the other in the leg, and both were taken to Stroger Hospital, where they were stabilized, police said. The attack happened about 1:30 a.m. Monday.

• A 28-year-old man was shot about 1 a.m. Monday in the Park Manor neighborhood. Two men approached and asked for his things before one shot him in the buttocks, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital and was reported stable.

• A 35-year-old man was shot in the Austin neighborhood about 12:30 a.m. Monday, police said. He was in the 900 block of North Massasoit Avenue when someone inside a silver car fired toward him. The man was taken to Loyola Hospital for treatment, and his condition was stabilized.

• A 21-year-old man suffered a leg wound in a shooting about 11:30 p.m. Sunday in the Englewood neighborhood, police said. The man was in the 5900 block of South Princeton Avenue when someone shot him and he walked into St. Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center seeking treatment for the wound.

• Two men were shot during a robbery in the 2100 block of South Harding Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood about 11 p.m. Sunday. A 58-year-old man was shot in the leg and a 35-year-old was shot in the buttocks. Both are in stable condition, police said.

• A 25-year-old woman was shot in the left hand about 10:45 p.m. Sunday in the 3900 block of South Lakewood Avenue. She was taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition, police said.

• A 29-year-old man was shot about 5:55 p.m. Sunday in the 11500 block of South Wentworth Avenue. He was outside when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He suffered a wound to the shoulder and drove to Metro South Hospital, she said.

• Two attacks happened in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, a Chicago police spokeswoman.

The latest Gresham shooting happened about 4 p.m. Sunday in the 1200 block of West 85th Street. A 23-year-old man was shot in the right thigh. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Police believe the shooting was gang-related.