Police: 14 hospitalized after drive-by shoot-out at Chicago funeral, 1 ‘person of interest’ in custody

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, USA TODAY
Published 10:48 p.m. ET July 21, 2020 | Updated 10:53 p.m. ET July 21, 2020

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Police in Chicago are investigating a shooting that hospitalized 14 people who were attending a funeral. 

A black vehicle sped westbound in the 1000 block of 79th Street toward people at the funeral and its occupants opened fire at about 6:30 p.m., Chicago police First Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter said in a press briefing. Attendees of the funeral “exchanged fire” with people inside the vehicle, he said. 

The people inside the car kept shooting at funeral attendees even after the car turned away. Eventually, the car crashed “midway down the block,” Carter said.

“The occupants of the vehicle then exited in multiple directions and fled,” Carter said. He added there’s a person of interest being interviewed by detectives. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot: Chicago won’t see ‘Portland-style deployment’ of federal agents

The 14 victims — all adults — are being treated at five area hospitals and their conditions are unknown, Carter said. Police found 60 shell casings at the scene and the amount of shooters – between those in the vehicle and the funeral attendees – is unknown, he said. 

It’s unclear if all 14 victims were shot. Carter said, “It appears they all did sustain some injury as a result of (the shooting), we’re not sure if it’s all gunshot wounds or not.

The person of interest wasn’t injured, Carter told reporters. He said it’s unknown if any of the victims were either not a part of the funeral or one of the occupants of the black car. 

Carter was asked by a reporter at the scene if there was prior knowledge that violence was a possibility at the funeral. The reporter added, “community activists say they gave you a warning as recently as today that this was a real possibility.”

A police car was assigned to the funeral by a district commander “as a precaution because of the size of the funeral,” Carter said. In response to the reporter’s question, Carter said, “The commander of the district took every precaution that he could.”

The shooting comes on the same day city Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she expects the Trump administration to deploy federal agents to Chicago. Those agents, she said, will be from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Contributing: Grace Hauck, USA TODAY

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/21/shooting-chicago-funeral-leaves-14-hospitalized-1-custody/5484421002/

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