CHICAGO, IL- As carjackings skyrocket throughout Chicago, police have issued tips to residents in order to tell them how to prevent being carjacked, and if that isn’t possible, how people should respond if they are victimized, NBC5 in Chicago reported.
Chicago’s finest held a press conference last week, in which they told people to maintain situational awareness while traveling around the city. Superintendent David Brown suggested traveling in pairs with someone sitting in the passenger seat whenever possible.
We are not simply deploying more officers to address the rise in carjackings. #ChicagoPolice are also conducting roll call training, acting as a visible deterrent in areas where a pattern has been identified, improving our internal notifications process & more. pic.twitter.com/uEOH9HXdHq
— Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) January 22, 2021
“One of the tips that we try to give victims is to be aware of your surroundings,” Brown said. “Try as much as possible when you are going from a store, from your car and back to your car to look around to see if you see any suspicious activity.
“If you see something suspicious, this is where you got to call 911 and say there was a suspicious car behind my car, instead of walking up and having an armed confrontation.”
Brown noted that carjackers tend to travel in pairs or fours, typically looking for individuals for an opportunity to come up. He also said offenders typically travel in cars.
He also said that the spate of carjackings has spread into Chicago suburbs, so the police department is working with regional partners in order to reduce the number of such incidents. He said that police believe the offenders live in the city, travel to the suburbs and then return back to town.
The superintendent announced a series of steps being undertaken by the Chicago PD in order to address the recent spike in the crime. He said that the rate of such incidents doubled in 2020 year over year from 2019 and said so far in 2021 there have been 144 reported carjackings.
The department has committed to adding more detectives to finding the individuals responsible, said Brown, along with Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan, promising to bring them to Cook County’s state’s attorney’s office for prosecution.
It is unknown if Cook County’s DA, Kim Foxx will actually prosecute the crimes since she is among a number of far-left DA’s who refuse to prosecute so-called “victimless” crime.
Brown said the average age of carjacking offenders is individuals between the ages of 15 and 20, while noting that one offender was only 12-years-old. Brown also asked for others who work with the city’s younger population to help with the effort to combat the issue, saying that it takes more than just police to handle the issue.
“Law enforcement cannot do this alone. We need everyone—teachers, mentors, coaches, parents, the faith community and others—to help us,” the superintendent said.
Deenihan added that the Chicago PD has added additional resources in 2021 which will allow for a carjacking-specific team within each detective division on a citywide basis. He noted that the department needs to work directly in the neighborhoods in order to solve the issue.
“We need to work directly with the young people to provide opportunities and dissuade them from contributing to this problem,” Deenihan continued.
Ironically just hours after the news conference, an additional four carjackings were reported to police. Officials said that three people in their 50’s were victimized in separate incidents, including one who was beaten with a pipe.
In the latter incident, a man was stopped at a red light when he was approached by two armed carjackers at around 6:35 p.m. They were armed, one with a gun and the other with a short pipe, and ordered the driver out of the vehicle, an Acura MDX. Even though he was compliant, the man with the pipe hit the victim several times, then left in his car. The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Just under a couple of hours later, another victim, this time a 51-year-old woman was carjacked at gunpoint. She told police she was sitting in her BMW at around 8:10 p.m. when a car pulled up alongside. Two males got out of the car, with one pointing a gun at the woman. They demanded she get out of her car and to leave her purse and cellphone. She complied and was not injured. Both males fled in her car.
Less than an our later, yet another victim, this time a 53-year-old ride share driver was accosted at gunpoint by two males, who took his Infiniti Qx60 at gunpoint, driving off in his car and leaving the Audi they drove to the scene behind.
Finally at around 10:30 p.m., another female was carjacked at gunpoint while filling her car up with gas. The 19-year-old was approached by two males who displayed a gun. These two were not into luxury vehicles and took her 14-year-old Pontiac G6.
The carjackings seem to primarily involve the taking of “luxury” vehicles. While NBC Chicago didn’t provide the full descriptions of those involved, a report on CWB Chicago identified the suspects in three carjackings last Saturday as involving two black males aged 18-30-years-old. They described one as between 5’4” to 5’6” and weighing 130 to 150 pounds. The other is 5’7” to 6-feet-tall and weighs between 140-160 pounds they said.
Meanwhile, last month we reported on the ongoing violence in the Windy City. For more on that, we invite you to:
DIG DEEPER
CHICAGO, IL – Thursday evening at approximately 7:00 p.m., a 16-year-old girl was shot and killed in an alley in the 5200 block of South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago’s South Side Gage Park neighborhood.
It was reported that the girl heard shots and then felt pain.
She sustained a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at Mount Sanai Hospital.
Young Lizzette Mata had just finished a meal at a restaurant and was walking with the man in the alley near the restaurant when four males got out of an SUV and confronted the pair.
The males began to beat the man at about 7:10 p.m., and the girl ran to a nearby friend for help. As the girl and friend returned, someone in the group fired shots. The beaten man told investigators he saw the girl fall to the ground.
In Chicago on Monday, a 16-year-old male was shot in the face and died.
At approximately 2:30 a.m. Monday morning, the young man was sitting in a BMW SUV in the 800 block of South Wabash Avenue in a South Loop parking garage when someone wearing a black ski mask approached the vehicle and began firing a weapon.
The young man suffered severe injuries and was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Police officers said they found a .40-caliber handgun in his waistband.
A witness told police she saw two males run from the garage, get into a dark car, and speed away west on 8th Street.
The victim was a 16-year-old boy, and he was pronounced dead at Northwestern. #Chicago https://t.co/YMHMF2NKI4
— Paige Fry (@paigexfry) November 30, 2020
Just two weeks ago, a 12-year-old boy was shot multiple times in Chicago while picking up school supplies with his father, police and relatives said.
Lamar Davis was sitting in a parked car with his dad Wednesday in the city’s Lawndale section, when someone in a maroon SUV rolled down a rear window and opened fire with a .45-caliber handgun, hitting the youngster in the back, hip, leg, and buttocks.
The boy was rushed to Stroger Hospital in fair condition. His father was not wounded.
Melissa Robinson, Lamar’s mother, told The Chicago Tribune:
“He was just sitting there in the car and someone shot him. Kids can’t go outside, they can’t do anything.
“Everybody just needs to think about what’s going on in the world and try not to harm others. I am just grateful he is OK.”
Lamar was released the next day from the hospital but needs to return early next week for a follow-up, according to the report. Lamar, who is in the process of returning to Chicago after moving to Indiana as a two-year-old, told his mother he had no idea who would want to hurt him.
The great news is that he’s ok. The bad news is that his name will never be uttered by the ones that say his life matters. Pathetic. https://t.co/mhcRnLE4OP
— Mike Honcho (@BigDaddyDore) November 13, 2020
In yet another shooting, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 1600 block of West 87th Street in Gresham on Chicago’s South Side.
He was later dropped off at Little Company of Mary Hospital before being transferred to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. He was reported to be in good condition Tuesday night.
The 16-year-old would not tell officers anything about the circumstances of the shooting.
Two suspects are in custody after a shooting involving three victims, including a five-month-old baby boy.
The infant sustained a graze wound to his right eye and was expected to survive after being transported to Lurie Children’s Hospital. The other victims included a 25-year-old who sustained a gunshot wound to his left thigh and a 19-year-old shot in his right shoulder.
Both were rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where their condition was stabilized.
Eric Carter, Chicago Police First Deputy Superintendent stated:
“(Violence against children) is not normal for anyone, whether it’s Chicago or any other city around this country. This is heartbreaking.
“There’s no regard for anyone’s life, especially that of a child who has yet to even grow up and experience this world. That’s quite tragic for what we’re seeing now happening around the country and around the world.”
Gun-controlled, Democrat-run Chicago: At least 20 shot, 6 fatally in weekend violence
November 29, 2020
CHICAGO, IL – As of the evening of November 29th, the weekend violence in Chicago has seen at least 20 people shot and six killed across the city. The weekend in question hasn’t even officially wrapped up yet as of writing.
Numbers have increased already, reports now show 20 shot, 6 fatally. pic.twitter.com/G7ncqstf4d
— Greg Hoyt (@GregHoytLET) November 29, 2020
Current tallies of gun violence within Chicago are at 14 non-fatally shot and six fatally, with the latest fatal shooting having been reported as being a 34-year-old male victim on November 29th within the city’s South Side.
The incident was said to have taken place at approximately 4:25 a.m. along the 7800-block of South Rhodes Avenue when a male suspect driving a dark-colored SUV shot the victim in the head.
Upon being transferred to the University of Chicago Medical Center, the 34-year-old male victim was pronounced deceased.
Area Two detectives are currently working that investigation, which there have been no reports yet of anyone in custody as of this time.
On November 28th at approximately 2:15 p.m., a fatal shooting of a male victim occurred within the 9000 block of South Commercial Avenue in a flurry of gunshots, according to Chicago Police.
That unidentified victim was pronounced dead after arriving at the South Shore Hospital.
Hours prior to that shooting, a 33-year-old man was fatally gunned down in a drive-by shooting within Little Village on the Southwest Side. Investigators say at transpired at approximately 6:10 a.m. along the 3100 block of West 26th Street.
The victim in that drive-by, identified as Luis Flores, was shot multiple times by a suspect driving a black vehicle. Floes was pronounced deceased after arriving at Mount Sinai Hospital.
During the evening of November 27th, 27-year-old Terrence Goodlow was fatally shot at approximately 8:30 p.m. along the 3900 block of West Jackson Boulevard in West Garfield Park. The victim was shot in the chest and pronounced dead at the scene.
About 6:30 a.m., the man got into an argument with someone over a dice game in the 1400 block of North LeClaire Avenue, when they pulled out a gun and fired shots at him, Chicago police said. https://t.co/joZJIzA93U
— GodsGorillas (@GodsGorillas) November 29, 2020
As for some of the non-fatal shootings, CPD says that one of the incidents occurred on November 29th at around 6:30 a.m. when a 39-year-old man was shot after getting into an argument over a dice game within the 1400 block of North LeClaire Avenue.
Police say that victim was shot in the knee and admitted himself to the West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and is currently in good condition.
Roughly three hours prior to the dice game inspired shooting, a 33-year-old man was placed in critical condition after being shot the throat, shoulder and abdomen while driving in the 4000-block of West Chicago Avenue.
That victim was said to have been inside of his vehicle when two BMWs – one black and once gray – pulled up on both sides of his vehicle and began to open fire on him.
Area Four detectives are currently working that investigation and have not reported on any suspects involved at this time.
During the evening of November 27th, two 20-year-old women were non-fatally wounded in a shooting that occurred at approximately 10:15 p.m. along the 9400 block of South Laflin Street.
Both of the women were inside of a vehicle at the time when someone opened fire on them. One victim was reported as having been shot in the foot, while the other was hit in the shoulder.
The condition of both the victims was listed as fair after having been transferred to the Little Company of Mary Hospital.
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