Residents of two South Side neighborhoods spoke out Friday to try to stop a spate of shootings after a woman walking with her daughter was critically wounded and a youth who allegedly pointed a gun at police was shot.
Brenda Griffin, 35, was walking home with her 16-year-old daughter in the 100 block of East 102nd Place Thursday night in the Roseland neighborhood when she was shot four times, police said. She was in critical condition at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
On Friday afternoon, police shot a 14-year-old boy in the leg after he allegedly brandished a gun he picked up after dropping the weapon as officers chased him in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Police were questioning three people Friday afternoon in the shooting of Griffin. No motive was immediately apparent, police said.
She was just two doors away from her home at about 8:20 p.m. when she was shot. Her daughter, who was walking behind her, was not injured. Police said they believed the shots came from a light blue Oldsmobile station wagon that sped from the scene.
Griffin moved to the neighborhood in June 2002 after spending four years in the public housing complex in the 4500 block of South Federal Street.
“To get out of those projects and raise her three children here in a neighborhood, you know, that’s the American dream,” said Griffin’s brother, Vannie, 41, of Toledo, Ohio. “That’s all I wanted for my sister was something better. It was a dream come true.”
Calumet Area police have had extra officers deployed in the area for several weeks because of ongoing disputes between three gangs.
“I try to keep the guys from standing in front of my house,” said Lynda Moore, who lives on East 102nd Place. Moore said she’s heard gunshots in the area before.
Gunfire on Friday near 48th Street and Loomis Boulevard sparked fear in that community.
A 14-year-old boy was standing with another youth near Hamline Elementary School on 48th just west of Loomis when two Deering District tactical officers approached in a car. The boy bolted to Loomis and then ran north, holding his side, police said. A .22-caliber pistol fell out of the boy’s pants about 50 yards north of the intersection, said police spokesman Patrick Camden.
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The boy reached for the gun and an officer fired two or three shots, Camden said. One of the shots went through the boy’s thigh. He was being treated at Stroger Hospital.
Police are planning to conduct an internal probe of the shooting.
Residents said they’re weary of the constant gunfire as two gangs battle over turf.
“There are bullets flying all over the place,” said Amelia Gallardo, the 20th Ward Democratic precinct captain, who lives near Friday’s shooting scene.