CHICAGO (WLS) — Surveillance video captured the chaotic moments just after 1 a.m. on Sunday, when seven people were shot, one of them fatally, during a large gathering in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.
Dozens of people can be seen running away from gunfire in the 4800-block of West Iowa Street, taking shelter behind vehicles. Among them was a gunman, dressed in jeans and a white top. He opened fire before running away towards Cicero Avenue.
Police said the gathering started out as a celebration of life.
“Anniversary of a person who passed away four years ago in a traffic accident. They were out there celebrating, and something happened, and a verbal altercation occurred, and someone began shooting, or several people began shooting,” said CPD Area Four Deputy Acting Chief Adnardo Gutierrez.
Terry’a Adams, 25, was killed in the shooting. The group was gathering to remember her boyfriend, who died in a crash four years ago.
Terry’a Adams, 25, was killed in an Austin shooting that wounded six others.
“She said, ‘I’ll be back, ma.’ She’s not back,” said Adams’ mother, Pinkie McBride. “”Y’all killed my baby. She had a future.”
The daily conversations McBride had with her daughter will no longer happen.
“I talk to this little girl everyday. ‘Terry’a, get up! It sounds like you’re not up!'” McBride said. “This picture will never fade away. All I know is, when I ran across that street, she was laying by her car in a pool of blood like they slaughtered a hog.”
Once police and emergency responders arrived on the scene, Adams was rushed to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Adams’ was also shot, but in her thigh.
“She was blessed by God. She had some EarPods in her pocket, in her pocket, so when they cut the pants off her, the bullet was right there,” McBride said.
The two cousins were running together, trying to get back to Adams’ car.
“She was like, ‘Come on, Ya-Ya! Come on, Ya-Ya!’ And my daughter just dropped,” McBride said.
McBride said her daughter and her cousin grew up on Iowa Street. It’s now a spot with lingering trauma.
“It’s going to kill me to wake up everyday to pull up at my house where my baby was killed across the street,” McBride said.
Adams’ mother says she was supposed to start nursing school in August.
Detectives were back on the scene on Sunday morning. They spoke with neighbors and did a secondary sweep of the area, which was so crowded overnight that it was impossible to process properly.
Yvette McCalum, who lives nearby, described what she came home to about an hour before the shooting.
“It was totally fine. They were just laughing, dancing, talking. Just having a good time. They were just having fun. I just wanted it broke up because there were so many. It was too many. It was at least 100 kids out,” McCalum said.
There were so many people that McCallum said she called 911, hoping police would come and disperse the crowd.
“You couldn’t get down the block. You couldn’t park anywhere. They were in the alley. They had the alley blocked off, and I told them all this on the phone. This could have been avoided,” McCalum said.
Police said three men, ages 27, 28 and 29, and a 28-year-old woman self-transported to Stroger Hospital. A 17-year-old girl, shot in the leg, was taken to West Suburban Hospital. All of them are expected to recover.
Area Four detectives are investigating. No one is in custody.
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