Five people were shot Sunday night during a Father’s Day barbecue in Roseland, police said.
Police taped off the 9900 block of South Princeton Avenue around Wendell Smith Park.
Families had been gathering in the park, Chicago Police Department spokesperson Tom Ahern said. “A car drove up and opened fire,” he said.
Several people were taking away a portable, blue tent as ambulances pulled away. Police at the scene were unable to immediately confirm the condition of the people shot.
The victims were young adults and were taken to several hospitals, 5th District Commander Tyrone Pendarvis said. Detectives were canvassing the area, looking for surveillance footage, he said.
Police believe the gunshots came from a dark-colored sedan, he added.
”But we aren’t really sure,” Pendarvis said. “It’s unfortunate today that this occurred, because it’s a fine day of people just enjoying their family activity. But violence prevails in the city.”
In the suburbs early Sunday morning, at least 23 people were shot, one fatally, at a Juneteenth celebration at a strip mall near Willowbrook in southeast DuPage County.
[ 1 killed and at least 22 injured in shooting at a strip mall near Willowbrook, authorities say ]
In Roseland, the smell of barbecue lingered as neighbors, sitting on porches nearby, said they heard shots around 8 p.m.
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One man who declined to give his name said the Father’s Day celebration occurs in the park every year.
He said he heard around 100 shots. ”That wasn’t no handgun,” he said.
An elderly woman stood in a driveway on the block. She said she was waiting for her son and grandson to come home.
They were at the celebration but were unharmed, she said.
”I called him. He said, ‘We down, we OK,’ ” she said.
The Father’s Day celebration has occurred every year since she moved to the block in the ‘60s, she said. A child leaned into the elderly woman’s shoulder as she spoke.
Fireworks erupted throughout the night as neighbors stood around. One man sat on the sidewalk, his head between his legs.
