On one of the warmest, clearest weekend evenings of the year, hundreds of people were eating and listening to music in the grass beside Jackson Park’s basketball court when gunshots went off.
People grabbed their children and ran. They dropped beer bottles and food wrappers as the shots kept coming. “They’re shooting!” someone screamed, “they’re shooting!” People jumped in cars and tried to get away from the crammed parking lot near Lake Shore Drive.
When police arrived, nine people had been shot, many others were shaken, and city officials were left wondering how a party in an ordinarily peaceful South Side lakefront park–a park they hope to lure more people to visit–had grown so large and turned so violent.
At least one neighborhood leader questioned whether authorities had properly supervised the gathering that erupted into chaos.
“I just saw people scattering,” said Reggie King, 38, who was standing in the park just before 8 p.m. Sunday when the shots rang out. “People were scared.”
On Monday, authorities were still trying to determine what prompted the shooting.
Police said a “verbal altercation” near the basketball courts had turned into a gunfight, but they wouldn’t say what caused the argument. Preliminary reports suggested the fight was over a woman, police said.
Four remained hospitalized Monday, one in critical condition at Cook County Hospital with multiple chest wounds. The victims, ranging in age from 18 to 31 and found over a two-block area just west of Lake Shore Drive near 63rd Street, were shot in the chest, back, arms and legs. A pregnant woman was hit in the chest, but she and her baby survived.
By Monday evening, three men, ranging from 19 to their late 20s, were in police custody, but had not been charged with crimes.
When they were arrested in the park, the three were holding loaded weapons, two of them semi-automatic, police said. One of the men was holding his gun at waist level when a police officer tackled him, 1st Deputy Supt. John Thomas said.
Police said they were conducting tests to determine whether the bullets that injured the victims came from the suspects’ handguns, Thomas said.
Police estimated that 800 to 1,000 people were near where the shooting happened at the time, but witnesses said the numbers were closer to 3,000.
Jackson Park, spanning more than 500 acres, often draws large crowds for picnics, family reunions, barbecues and pickup basketball games on summer days, but rarely is the scene of violence or other crime, police and residents said. Nancy Hays, president of the Jackson Park Advisory Council, said she had never heard of similar problems at the park.
“This is just a safe place,” said Ronald Jones, a 32-year-old South Shore resident who was playing basketball at the park Monday.
“I’ve never heard of a ruckus out here,” said Joy Garner, 22. “Crime is crime. Things happen. … It was just a bad mishap, I’d say.”
For Chicago parks officials–who have launched an intense campaign to make the underused south lakefront as popular as the north lakefront –the timing of the shooting couldn’t be worse.
Just this year, the Chicago Park District announced a costly and ambitious renovation of Jackson Park, part of a larger makeover of South Side lakefront parks.
The long-term plans include a wider shoreline, running track, paddle boats behind the Museum of Science and Industry, a promenade along the park’s yacht harbor, a water-taxi stop near 59th Street, and parasailing trips.
The public relations campaign ran into trouble when 63rd Street Beach–Jackson Park’s swimming area–repeatedly was closed last summer due to high bacteria readings.
The shootings could mean new concerns for would-be visitors.
Parks Supt. David Doig said security is of “paramount concern.” But, he added, he does not believe Jackson Park has a security problem.
“Safety is a concern throughout the entire district,” Doig said. “It’s unfortunate that this incident happened in a park…These things bubble up wherever you’ve got people hanging out. I think it could happen anywhere. To somehow attribute this to the park, I just don’t think it is fair.”
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A special police “mobile unit” that includes police on bicycle, foot and in squad cars monitors the lakefront during the summer, Doig said.
Park District security guards also watch the facilities, a parks spokeswoman said.
“We’ve always got to be vigilant in looking for ways to improve,” Doig said. “I think we’ve got to look at, particularly on hot summer days when people are out, how we’re letting people access the parking lots. Are they there to park and play golf or park and go to the boats or are they there to park and just party?”
But the alderman from the ward that includes Jackson Park raised concerns about why so many people were allowed to gather Sunday afternoon in what appeared to be an organized party without a Park District permit.
Permits are required for planned gatherings of more than 50 people. Police described the gathering as organized in advance.
“They should have shut them down,” said Ald. Leslie A. Hairston (5th), who said she has called for more patrols. “Three thousand people converging in a park at one time? Shut it down. If the police cannot patrol it, shut it down.”
But Doig said the gathering wasn’t organized. “This is a Sunday afternoon in the park. If people just show up or want to park or sit on the grass, you don’t need a permit to do that.”