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Chicago Gun Violence Escalates, 1 Dead & 17 Wounded In Less Than 24 Hours

By Nicholas Morine
Published on: 03:15 PST, Aug 19, 2018

Chicago faced a night of deadly shooting sprees yesterday as gun violence erupted all over the windy city, claiming the life of one victim and seriously injuring at least 17 others. According to Fox 32 Chicago, a local news affiliate, these incidents all occurred within a small 24-hour time frame.

The fatal casualty was a man who was shot in the West Englewood neighborhood in southside Chicago. At or around 8 p.m. local time, 26-year-old Matthew Hudson was discovered on a sidewalk with a prominent gunshot wound to the back in the 2300 block of West 72nd, according to local authorities.

Though he was alive when discovered, he later expired after being transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. His official place of residence was located several blocks away in the neighborhood of Ashburn. Detectives are conducting a homicide investigation into the matter.

A trio of men was shot and a fourth was physically assaulted at what was described by those present as a peace picnic, the Chicago Tribune reports. The picnic was underway at the Near North Side’s Seward Park and was a back-to-school event for the local members of the community.

An unknown number of gunmen opened fire on those assembled shortly after 6 p.m. local time, wounding three men present — ages 28, 43, and 54. The 28-year-old was the most seriously injured, taking a bullet in the back, and was rushed to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was listed as being in critical condition. The other two shooting victims, injured in their extremities, the bullets finding their marks in their arms and legs, were also taken to Northwestern. Their condition was listed as stable.

A young teenage boy sitting inside his Englewood home was struck by a bullet that broke through a nearby window, hitting him in the chest. As local media outlet WGN9 reports, the shooting occurred just ten minutes before midnight local time. Apparently, the boy was sitting inside when he heard shots fired outside of his residence. A bullet then penetrated a nearby window and struck him in the chest. He was transported to Comer Children’s Hospital in fair condition according to police reports. Police are investigating the crime, but have nobody in custody as yet.

The remainder of the shootings tells similar stories of citizens and criminals engaging in gunplay and robbery, much of what is believed to be linked to gang violence. There appears to be no end in sight — according to CNN, the first weekend of August claimed 12 lives out of 66 shootings that took place over a 48-hour timespan.

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