Memorial Day weekend in Chicago closed out with a massive “teen trend” in Hyde Park that led to dozens of arrests and a shooting that wounded three men, officials and police sources said.
The so-called “trend” — one of the massive, social media-fueled gatherings that have become a marquee topic in the city’s public safety discussion as summer gets underway — took place at 57th Street Beach Monday night, capping a weekend that saw 23 shooting incidents and 36 people wounded, police said.
According to an internal message to police department personnel from Superintendent Larry Snelling reviewed by the Tribune, more than 800 people converged on the beach Monday, where cops recovered 15 guns. By Tuesday, news of another melee that injured five officers when a man allegedly drove a car through a crowd on the Near West Side had made its way to Washington, D.C., where President Donald Trump seized on it as another jab at Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson — though the president appeared to confuse that incident with Monday night’s takeover.
Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th, said Tuesday that several people sent him a flyer promoting the 57th Street Beach gathering before it occurred. Police thought they were ready, he added.
It seemed like “just a bunch of teenagers at first,” he said. But then it escalated, growing far larger than other youth gatherings earlier in the weekend.
“While they were prepared for it, I think they were just overwhelmed by the size of the crowd and the movement of the crowd,” he said.
Several adults were among the 13 people arrested and charged with felonies as a result of the “trend” Monday night, police department representatives said.
The other eight people accused of felonies were minors between the ages of 14 and 17. One, a 16-year-old girl, was arrested on an outstanding warrant and charged with aggravated battery to a police officer. The rest of the underage arrestees are facing charges of unlawful possession of a weapon and related counts, according to CPD.
Of the adults who were arrested and charged Monday, three were accused of aggravated unlawful possession or use of a weapon. Two more were accused of aggravated battery to police officers, among other charges.
According to CPD, 22 people, including 11 minors, are facing charges of disorderly conduct. Seven of those people, including five minors, were accused of misdemeanor reckless conduct. And another two adults and eight minors are facing other misdemeanor charges including resisting police, battery, criminal trespassing and possessing ammunition without a valid FOID card. Yancy said police also confiscated bear mace and tasers as they cleared the beach and nearby blocks.
Around 10 p.m. Monday, police said an 18-year-old man and two 19-year-old men were standing in the 1600 block of East 55th Street when they heard shots and felt pain. The victims told responding officers they were trying to leave the area when a disturbance broke out and they realized they were shot, police sources said.
The 18-year-old suffered a wound to the hand and was taken to UChicago Medicine in good condition. One of the 19-year-olds was shot in the leg, and was also taken to the same hospital where he was listed in good condition. The third victim suffered a gunshot wound to the right hip and got himself to UChicago Medicine where he was listed in good condition, police said.
CPD released a pair of still images of the shooting suspect in a bulletin Tuesday morning that showed a person pointing a weapon and running. The suspected shooter, estimated to be between 16 and 19, wore a black ski mask, a black sweater with white writing on one sleeve, jeans and tennis shoes, police said. As of Tuesday morning, no one was in custody for the shootings.
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Teen takeovers or trends have been a marquee issue as the city heads into the warm summer months, spurring everyone from neighbors to community violence intervention workers to school principals and aldermen to ponder how best to address the massive gatherings that have proven fatal as recently as last November. Hyde Park, which Yancy represents, has already been the site of several large gatherings that have turned violent.
“And the summer hasn’t even gotten here yet,” Yancy said. “This is a phenomenon that is moving all across the country. While I don’t have an answer personally, it’s incumbent on all of us to figure out what the answer is.”
Neighbors, police and civic leaders have offered a range of possible answers, from offering teenagers constructive alternatives to the mass gatherings to so-called “parent takeovers” meant to counteract bad behavior to a long-discussed, currently stalled push led by Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, to alter the city’s longstanding teen curfew.
An ordinance advanced in January that would give Snelling and his successors the power to declare a teen curfew anytime, anywhere across the city with at least 12 hours notice.
However, its fate remains uncertain. Mayor Johnson said at the time that he’s opposed to one person having “unilateral control” over a curfew, but didn’t indicate whether he would issue a veto if the measure passed. Hopkins previously said he is discussing compromise language with Johnson’s administration, but the ordinance has not moved forward.
For his part, Yancy said he does not have a position on the ordinance yet, but feels increasing pressure to find a response to the gatherings.
However they respond, city leaders must acknowledge the trauma and systematic disadvantages that many young Chicagoans face, he said.
“And at the same time, we have to also acknowledge that, short of punitive measures, how do we stop the behavior?” he said. “It’s really hard to make the case against it when these peaceful gatherings of young people turn violent.”
The shooting occurred by the building where Yancy held his first job, as a video store clerk, he said. And once again, it has sparked “loud cries” from the community. The city must “throw everything” at the problem, he said.
“They’re asking for something, and I don’t think we’ve been able to figure it out,” he said. “We have to act with intentionality and not just (be) reactive or passive.”
Speaking at the City Club of Chicago last week, Snelling told civic and business leaders that “we have to stop making excuses for these teenagers” who join the so-called trends, which often gather steam on social media before materializing in high-profile, well-heeled locations like North Avenue Beach or Hyde Park’s 53rd Street. Snelling also called for greater accountability for the teens themselves and on parents whose children get involved in the gatherings.
Johnson and his new deputy mayor for community safety Emmanuel Andre have emphasized the need to stop “trends” before they start with opportunities and solid relationships with young people who might otherwise flock to one of the gatherings.
But Johnson, speaking in Back of the Yards Thursday, also echoed Snelling’s call for parents to know where their children are and prevent them from getting into potentially dangerous situations: “At some point, adults have to work hard to help raise their children,” he said. “If anyone believes this effort is solely the responsibility of the government, they’re mistaken.”
The “takeover” at 57th Street Beach was the second mass gathering to garner significant attention over the holiday weekend. Police were clearing a large crowd early Sunday morning on the Near West Side when a man drove a car through the intersection of West 13th Street and Loomis and hit five cops, CPD said.
That man, now identified as 18-year-old Rashad Johnson, faces more than a dozen felony charges, including five counts each of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. A police report contained in court records alleges that Johnson, a Plainfield resident, struck the five officers as he drove a 2013 Ford Fusion south down Loomis Street.
Police found that Johnson, whom authorities said had no previous criminal history, had a Mac-10 semiautomatic handgun with an extended magazine on him after they arrested him. He appeared before Cook County Judge Ankur Srivastava Tuesday morning for a detention hearing, where he was ordered held pending trial with a next court date scheduled for June 17, court records show.