12-year-old girl, 4 teens among 6 shot outside party in Austin: ‘It is so devastating’

Six people were shot dead before a party in Austin on the West Side late Saturday, including a 12-year-old girl and four other teenage girls.

At about 11:40 p.m. they were standing with a group on the sidewalk on the 5000 block of West Ohio Street when someone fired shots in a dark SUV, Chicago police said. Five of the victims, women aged 12-19, were hospitalized in fair condition.

Marshawn Feltus, an Austin resident who works to improve the historically violent area, said he heard the gunshots after an argument broke out during a long party. Several people have told him there was more than one shooter, he added.

“It is so devastating that these gatherings are turning into mass shootings. And it seems to happen more and more, no matter where in town, ”said Feltus. “But when young and old celebrate, there seems inevitably to some kind of mass shooting, which is very disturbing.”

The 12-year-old girl was slapped in the hand and driven by family members to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, police said.

Two other girls, 13 and 14, were both shot in the buttocks and a 19-year-old woman was shot in the back, police said. They were all taken to Stroger Hospital.

A 15-year-old girl was also hit in the buttocks and grazed on the head, a 25-year-old man was shot in the buttocks, the police said. The girl was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and the man showed up at the same hospital but was treated and released, police said.

No arrests were reported.

The attack came less than 24 hours after another mass shooting in Austin, which killed one man and injured three others. A police spokesman could not say whether the shootings were related.

The previous shooting occurred at around 11:55 p.m. on Friday at block 700 on North Lockwood Avenue, where police said the four men were standing when three people approached and opened fire.

In the past five years, Chicago has seen by far the largest number of mass shootings in the country, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Chicago has seen at least 33 shootings so far this year, in which four or more victims have been injured, according to a Sun Times analysis of city data. The city is now well on its way to surpassing last year’s 48 total mass shootings as that number skyrocketed amid a surge in violent crime that continued this year.

The Saturday shootout marks the fourth this year in the Austin Police Department and the third reported on the same beat, records held by the Sun Times show.

As part of the city’s summer security plan, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration identified 15 “priority community areas” to deploy additional police resources. Austin topped the list because the most shootings and murders occurred between 2018 and 2020.

While eight of these areas had higher or similar rates of violent crime, Austin and six others saw a decrease from last year.

Austin has seen the largest drop in the total number of shootings compared to last year, according to Sun Times records. But the neighborhood has still seen a nearly 18% increase in shootings and homicides compared to 2019.

Feltus said the Austin police needed more resources to break up large gatherings during “party hours.” Although he noted that residents “should be able to party and have a good time,” he believes that more precautionary measures need to be taken now.

“It seems like an open season, people take it in hand that they only open up to the crowds,” he said.

On the last weekend of July 4th – the most violent in town this year – the Austin District commander and a police sergeant were wounded when a gunman shot a crowd of revelers on the 100 block of North Long Avenue. Feltus, who lives a few steps from the location of the shooting, has claimed the shooter was targeting police officers.

Feltus said he was concerned that such young girls were in attendance for Saturday’s late night party. Feltus, a convicted murderer who served 18 years in prison and now runs his own yoga business, said he believes more resources should be poured into programs to “lead youth in high-crime areas” on a better path, when he started.

“It’s not just a police problem,” Feltus said of the violence in the city. “It’s a community problem and it affects everyone in the community.”

Contributor: Jermaine Nolen