Here's yet another reason why people are moving out of Chicago in droves.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is lashing out at Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx for citing "mutual combatants" in her decision not to press charges against those arrested in a deadly daylight neighborhood shootout caught on camera last week between rival gang members.
"She's got to explain to the public, why? Given that evidence, a pod camera right there that captured the entire thing and police officers on the scene in uniform, and a squad car there, why that isn't enough?" Lightfoot said at a press conference Monday. "If the bad guys that are out there that are picking up guns and shooting without any regard for the sanctity of life, do not believe that there's accountability for them, the brazenness will not end. It will escalate, it will continue and our communities will not be safe."
One person was killed and five others were taken into custody and later released in connection to the shootout that happened in the Austin neighborhood Friday on the city’s West Side. Three gang members began shooting into a single-family home in broad daylight in an effort to draw out members of an opposing gang faction. Three individuals inside returned fire, killing one of the offenders outside.
More than 70 rounds of shells were recovered from the shooting captured by a city camera, and a set of uniformed officers in a marked squad car were also on the scene within a short period of time and witnessed the activity, Lightfoot, as well as five alderman, in a letter obtained by Fox 32, implored Foxx to reconsider felony charges, like attempted murder, at least against the two surviving initial aggressors.
Those inside the house refused to come out and a SWAT team was called, giving the three time to get rid of all their guns and clean up any remaining evidence, the letter says. Several gun cases, but no weapons, were found, a fact the mayor and alderman say alone warrants further investigation.
"Having looked at this, gotten a deep understanding from the detectives that were doing the investigation, it’s really hard to understand that decision," Lightfoot continued at her press conference Monday. "It’s complicated, for sure. But we really urge the State’s Attorney herself to get personally involved, look at the evidence, and I believe that there are charges that can be brought at a minimum against the individuals who initiated the gunfire."
Photo: Getty Images North America
CHICAGO, IL - JANUARY 02: Satan's Disciples gang graffiti is scrawled on the lid of a garbage can near a memorial at the spot in an alley in Chicago, (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)