Madmallard
.223 Rem
This city’s police officers have been warned of the increasing use by gang members of rifles able to pierce police body armor, after a spate of shootings with assault-style weapons.
On Sunday, two men armed with assault-style rifles shot 10 people, police said. The victims, two of whom died, were attending a memorial for a person shot and killed that day in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the southwest side.
“Two subjects came out of an alley, and opened fire with rifles,” Chicago Police Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro said at a press conference on Sunday. The victims were standing at the spot where the person was killed, marked by candles and balloons.
Mr. Navarro called it “another brazen act of gang violence” on Chicago’s streets.
On Monday, officers were issued a safety bulletin warning them to expect a higher presence of gang members with assault-style rifles in that neighborhood. Additional tactical and gang-response units have been deployed to the area to quell possible violence.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the safety alerts are “routine communications to advise field personnel about incidents.”
“This bulletin was issued out of an abundance of caution,” he said. “There is no specific threat against Chicago police officers.”
Sunday’s bloodshed comes days after a van pulled alongside plainclothes police officers in an unmarked surveillance vehicle and opened fire with similar military-style rifles, injuring both officers. One was shot in the hip and arm, and the other was shot in the back.
Police believe the officers weren’t targeted because of their profession, and say it is likely the shooters thought they were shooting at rival gang members. The officers have since been discharged from the hospital and are in stable condition.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who described the rifle used as a “weapon of war,” said police in that neighborhood have seen “quite a few” shootings with high-powered rifles. Police dogs recovered a .223 caliber rifle buried in the woods near the site of the shooting.
Chicago Police Warn Officers of Assault-Style Weapons Threat
On Sunday, two men armed with assault-style rifles shot 10 people, police said. The victims, two of whom died, were attending a memorial for a person shot and killed that day in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the southwest side.
“Two subjects came out of an alley, and opened fire with rifles,” Chicago Police Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro said at a press conference on Sunday. The victims were standing at the spot where the person was killed, marked by candles and balloons.
Mr. Navarro called it “another brazen act of gang violence” on Chicago’s streets.
On Monday, officers were issued a safety bulletin warning them to expect a higher presence of gang members with assault-style rifles in that neighborhood. Additional tactical and gang-response units have been deployed to the area to quell possible violence.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the safety alerts are “routine communications to advise field personnel about incidents.”
“This bulletin was issued out of an abundance of caution,” he said. “There is no specific threat against Chicago police officers.”
Sunday’s bloodshed comes days after a van pulled alongside plainclothes police officers in an unmarked surveillance vehicle and opened fire with similar military-style rifles, injuring both officers. One was shot in the hip and arm, and the other was shot in the back.
Police believe the officers weren’t targeted because of their profession, and say it is likely the shooters thought they were shooting at rival gang members. The officers have since been discharged from the hospital and are in stable condition.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who described the rifle used as a “weapon of war,” said police in that neighborhood have seen “quite a few” shootings with high-powered rifles. Police dogs recovered a .223 caliber rifle buried in the woods near the site of the shooting.
Chicago Police Warn Officers of Assault-Style Weapons Threat
