43 shot — 8 fatally — in Chicago Labor Day weekend shootings

A 15-year-old boy shot Sunday in Austin is among the eight people killed.

SHARE 43 shot — 8 fatally — in Chicago Labor Day weekend shootings
Chicago police investigate the scene where a man was shot dead, and another man was wounded, Aug. 31, 2019, in the 1500 block of North Spaulding, in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Chicago police investigate the scene where one man was shot dead and another man was wounded, Aug. 31, 2019, in the 1500 block of North Spaulding, in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

At least 43 people were shot — eight fatally — in gun violence across Chicago over the Labor Day holiday weekend. 

The city saw its lowest number of murders and shootings in August since 2011, according to data from Chicago police.

Last Labor Day weekend saw 27 people shot across Chicago, eight fatally. Four victims were dead by the end of the weekend, while four others died of their injuries days later.

The weekend’s latest fatal shooting happened Tuesday in Gresham on the South Side.

About 1:15 a.m., officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert in the 8500 block of South Aberdeen Street and found a 32-year-old man unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

There are currently no reported witnesses to the shooting and the circumstances remain unknown, police said.

On Sunday, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed in Austin on the West Side.

Officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert about 2:19 a.m. and found Dovantae Jackson in the 5100 block of West Washington Boulevard with gunshot wounds to the leg and back, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

He was pronounced dead on the scene, police said. He lived in the same block where he was shot.

Just over 20 minutes later, a man was killed and a woman wounded in a shooting at a party in Woodlawn on the South Side.

They were gathered about 2:45 a.m. inside of a residence in the 6100 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue when someone at the party opened fire, police said.

A 27-year-old man suffered numerous gunshot wounds to the body and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The medical examiner’s office has yet to release the man’s identity or details on his death.

The woman, 34, was hit in the foot and took herself to St. Bernard hospital where she is listed in good condition, police said.

About an hour later, a drive-by claimed the life of one man and wounded another in Archer Heights on the Southwest Side.

They were traveling in a vehicle about 3:54 a.m. in the 5100 block of South Pulaski Road when someone fired shots from a passing vehicle, police said.

Christopher Smith, 37, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was pronounced dead on the scene, authorities said.

The other man, 38, was hit in the chest, abdomen, hand and was able to take himself to Mount Sinai Hospital where he is in serious condition, police said.

On Saturday, two men were killed and three more people were wounded after someone unleashed gunfire at a group of people in Englewood on the South Side.

They were on the front porch of a home about 5:51 p.m. in the 7100 block of South Paulina Street when they heard gunfire, Chicago police said.

The two men, 26 and 32, were killed, police said. The 26-year-old was was hit in the chest and pronounced at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. The 32-year-old was hit in the chest and thigh, police said. He was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Three others, a woman and two men, were also wounded in the shooting.

Witnesses told police they did not see who fired the shots, but one told investigators a dark-colored vehicle drove off from the scene, police said.

On Saturday morning, a man was killed and another wounded in a double shooting in Humboldt Park on the West Side.

About 4:43 a.m., they were in the 3200 block of West Le Moyne Street when someone in a vehicle unleashed gunfire, police said.

Angel Perez, 18, was struck in the chest and taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. He lived in Logan Square.

The other man, 23, was hit in the buttocks and taken to Norwegian American Hospital in serious condition, police said.

In the weekend’s earliest reported homicide, a 42-year-old man was killed in a shooting in South Chicago. 

Willie Coker was outside with a group of people about 12:22 a.m. in the 8700 block of South Burley Avenue when shots rang out from an unknown direction, police and the medical examiner’s office said. 

Officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert and found Coker unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, police said. He was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center. 

At least 29 others were wounded in shootings across Chicago between 5 p.m. Aug. 30 and 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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