Hate crime? - Masked gunmen wound six at South Side party
Hate crime? - Masked gunmen wound six at South Side party
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
Januarey 3, 2007
Two masked gunmen armed with semiautomatic weapons burst into a predominately gay party on Chicago’s South Side early Dec. 31 and opened fire, injuring six people.
The shooting happened about 5:30 a.m. at the basement apartment of a house in the 7900 block of South Woodlawn Avenue, and people at the party said it came after the gay men living at the house had complained of anti-gay harassment from area residents.
The six victims, between the ages of 19 and 35, were all shot in the chest, with two initially listed as being in critical condition. By the afternoon of Jan. 1, Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said, all the victims were in stable condition, with none of the wounds considered to be life threatening. Two victims were released from area hospitals the afternoon of Dec. 31.
Bond said witnesses didn’t report any anti-gay words said by the gunmen, who fled into a gangway. She also said because the gunmen were masked, no one could offer a facial description of the shooters.
Those factors, Bond said, might make it difficult for the crime to be classified as an anti-gay hate crime. She said the Police Department’s civil rights division had been called in to assist detectives.
A police spokesman said Jan. 2 that investigators were still looking for leads in the case.
Neighbors told reporters that the home was the site of frequent parties. The men who rented the apartment had lived there since April. One of the men’s brothers told the Chicago Sun-Times that his brother had complained of being harassed for being gay since moving into the neighborhood.
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
Januarey 3, 2007
Two masked gunmen armed with semiautomatic weapons burst into a predominately gay party on Chicago’s South Side early Dec. 31 and opened fire, injuring six people.
The shooting happened about 5:30 a.m. at the basement apartment of a house in the 7900 block of South Woodlawn Avenue, and people at the party said it came after the gay men living at the house had complained of anti-gay harassment from area residents.
The six victims, between the ages of 19 and 35, were all shot in the chest, with two initially listed as being in critical condition. By the afternoon of Jan. 1, Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said, all the victims were in stable condition, with none of the wounds considered to be life threatening. Two victims were released from area hospitals the afternoon of Dec. 31.
Bond said witnesses didn’t report any anti-gay words said by the gunmen, who fled into a gangway. She also said because the gunmen were masked, no one could offer a facial description of the shooters.
Those factors, Bond said, might make it difficult for the crime to be classified as an anti-gay hate crime. She said the Police Department’s civil rights division had been called in to assist detectives.
A police spokesman said Jan. 2 that investigators were still looking for leads in the case.
Neighbors told reporters that the home was the site of frequent parties. The men who rented the apartment had lived there since April. One of the men’s brothers told the Chicago Sun-Times that his brother had complained of being harassed for being gay since moving into the neighborhood.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 2:20 PM
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