Six people were shot on the South Side of Chicago. Police investigate one of the crime scenes in the 4200 block of S. Wells St. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
A total of six people were shot, one fatally, in two shootings on the South Side, officials said.
In the first shooting, two 19-year-old men were reported shot on the 1100 block of West 51st Street, police said. The shooting was reported at 6:11 p.m., said Chicago Fire Department Chief Joseph Roccasalva.
The men were both taken in serious-to-critical condition to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
One of the men was reportedly shot in the back and the second man was shot in the hand, leg, side and buttocks, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer VeeJay Zala.
Minutes after that shooting, four people were shot on the 4200 block of South Wells Street at 6:21 p.m., said Roccasalva.
A 30-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to the head and a 38-year-old man was shot in the neck, both were taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County. The younger man reportedly died, officials said.
A 32-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to the stomach. A 27-year-old man was shot in the leg and taken to Mercy Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
Two of the victims were taken in serious-to-critical condition to Stroger Hospital, one person was taken to Mercy Hospital in fair-to-serious condition and one person was reported dead on the scene, said Roccasalva.
The four victims were shot inside and outside of a home in the 4200 block of South Wells Street, police said.
The man who was killed, 30-year-old William Martin, was shot in the head inside the home, according to police and the victim's family.
Martin was the second child Thelma Smith lost to gunfire this year, she said. Another son, Samuel Clay, was shot and killed in April near 45th Street and Saint Lawrence Avenue, she said.
"I don't know what this world is coming to, with all this shooting," Martin's mother, Smith, 48, said through tears from the porch of her mother's home on the next block.
She said Martin was in the home, where a friend of his lived, when the bullets pierced through the window and struck Martin and at least one other victim.
Smith, who has four other children, said Martin was studying to become a Jehovah's Witness. She said he had six children and got married last year.
"Oh my God! I can't believe this! Another one of my kids is getting buried. I have to bury another one of my kids," said Smith.
Police said the gunshots may have come from an alley west of the home, across the street. No one is in custody.
Police couldn't say what led to the shooting, but the block is in the middle of an area where two gangs are in conflict with one another.
There's no indication the shooting is related to the other one at 51st and Wells Streets, police said.
About 20 onlookers gathered on sidewalks and stoops in the 4200 block of South Wells Street where beat cops and detectives were going door to door scouring for witnesses.
A female voice could be heard screaming down the block. Two others were consoling each other with tears in their eyes in the middle of the street.
One officer approached a group of people outside the yellow tape and asked loudly, "Did anybody see anything?"
Nobody said anything back to the officer as she walked away from them.
Rolita Lofton, 34, stood crying at the edge of the police tape Friday night near the shooting site on Wells Street.
"They hit my brother in the chest," Lofton said.
Lofton said her brother, Orivell Chester, 32, was one of the four shot Friday night.
Lofton said she was told her brother was in surgery but did not know the hospital. She said Chester worked at McCormick Place and recently got off work.
Marcus Keene, 38, said he heard the shooters came through the gangway on Wells Street and just started shooting at a group of men gathered on the porch.
He said two of the men shot were on the porch while the other two shot were sitting on the couch inside the next house over. Keene said he believes one of the men who was struck while inside the house had already died.
Keene, who works as a CTA bus driver, expressed frustration.
"Why? Who knows. Is this sad? Yes. The powers at be aren't doing what they should do and neither are the people here," Keene said.
Several police vehicles and an ambulance were also stationed on the block full of two-story apartment houses.
Linda McCullough was watching television at her home when she heard about five gunshots. She then went outside to see what was going on.
She says the neighborhood is usually quiet.
"We have some trouble maybe every four years," she said. "People start acting crazy."
In addition to those shootings, a man was found dead of apparent gunshot wounds on the 8200 block of South Dobson, police said.
The victim may have been dead for a few weeks, a police source said, citing preliminary information. The man sustained several gunshot wounds, police said.
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