Two suspected gunmen and two others have been charged in last week's shooting of 13 people including a 3-year-old boy in a crowded Chicago park, police said Tuesday.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the gunmen opened fire on the group in retaliation for an earlier shooting in which one of them was slightly wounded. He said there was no specific target, but that the shooters went to the park because it was rival gang territory.
Police said all four suspects were charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery in Thursday's attack in Cornell Square Park on the southwest side.
Investigators said the shooters where Tabari Young, 22, and 21-year-old Bryon Champ, who each opened fire on the crowded park as people played a nighttime basketball game on a warm late-summer evening.
After a brief court appearance Tuesday, a judge ordered all four to be held without bond.
Young, who was identified as the principal gunman, used a military-style weapon, while Champ used another gun, McCarthy said.
Twenty-two-year-old Brad Jett, a suspected lookout, and 20-year-old Kewane Gatewood, who is accused of supplying a gun, were also charged, McCarthy said.
Young and Jett were charged Tuesday while Champ and Gatewood were charged Monday.
The shooting injured two teenagers and 3-year-old Deonta Howard, who is recovering from surgery after being shot near his ear.
Authorities say Young has more than a dozen previous arrests and have described Champ as a felon and a documented gang member.
Prosecutors said the men were members of the Blackstones street gang who were upset after an unreported shooting that took place earlier in the day in which Champ suffered a graze wound. The park was in an area frequented by members of the Gangster Disciples.
Champ, who was convicted in July 2012 on charges of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, was previously sentenced to Cook County Jail's boot camp.
McCarthy and Mayor Rahm Emanuel cited the charges and Champ's record to reiterate their demands for tougher gun laws in the state of Illinois.
“We need a three-year minimum penalty for illegally carrying a gun on our streets,” Emanuel said. “One of the shooters should have been behind bars rather than in Cornell Park on Thursday night.”
Police had recorded 306 murders and 1,402 shooting incidents this year in Chicago as of Sept. 15, down 20 and 22 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2012. Police say overall violent crime is down about 15 percent, according to new figures released Monday. (AP)
