Chicago Sun-Times: All posts by Kaitlin Washburn

Pro-Putin ‘Z’ stickers plastered throughout Chicago’s Ukrainian Village

2023-12-13T21:29:06.444-06:00

Attorney Svitlana Iva-Ugryn found a Russian “Z” symbol on a window of her office. Others were found on area businesses. The Z represents support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Stickers bearing the letter “Z” appeared on buildings throughout Ukrainian Village this week.

The simple letter might not mean much to many Chicagoans, but Svitlana Iva-Ugryn knows exactly what it means — and was disturbed to see one on her office window.

The symbol signifies support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“For Ukrainians, it’s a very triggering symbol because it’s on these military machines that invaded Ukraine, especially in the territories where people were tortured, killed and where the mass graves were found,” Iva-Ugryn said.

And to underscore that message, the sticker that appeared on the windows of the office she shares with her husband in the Near Northwest Side neighborhood carried Russian words meaning “for the victory.”

Iva-Ugryn is an immigration attorney and her husband, Vitaliy Ivanyshyn, is a therapist. Ivanyshyn found one of the stickers on their office window at about noon Monday.

The letter Z, which doesn’t exist in the Cyrillic alphabet in Russia and Ukraine, was first used by Russians to mark their tanks as they massed near the border just before the invasion last year. Its specific meaning is murky, with different theories being suggested.

But no matter its origins, the symbol has come to stand for something sinister, Ukrainian-Americans say.

It is a “symbol for Russian fascism,” Liliia Popovych of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America told the Sun-Times.

“They’re basically trying to tell us that they’re going to reach Ukrainians everywhere,” Popovych said. “It’s not just a war for territory, they basically want to erase all of the Ukrainians.”

And the sudden appearance of the symbol is especially alarming to Chicago’s Ukrainian community as support for the country’s fight against Russia has waned since the war started nearly two years ago.

A sticker with the letter “Z” — symbolizing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and the phrase “for the victory” written in Russian is stuck onto an office window in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village.

Provided by Svitlana Iva-Ugryn

To see that symbol on their window brought “a mix of anger and also sadness,” Ivanyshyn said. “Anger for how people can do that. And sadness because I don’t understand why. Why do people exist like that, with that hate?”

‘It feels like an attack’

At first, Iva-Ugryn worried it was a personal assault because of the Ukrainian flag hanging in their window. But when she went on Facebook, she learned that other Ukrainian businesses, the Ukrainian National Museum, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral and St. Nicholas Cathedral School had all been marked.

“The Ukrainian school is most disturbing to me. There are refugee children there. Imagine that for them,” Iva-Ugryn said. “It’s disturbing because we didn’t know why it’s happening right now. It’s the second year of the war, and all of a sudden for this to happen, it feels like an attack.”

She wonders if it’s in part because of the ongoing tension in Congress over supplying additional aid to Ukraine.

Svitlana Iva-Ugryn, an immigration attorney, speaks to a Sun-Times reporter Wednesday about a Russian “Z” symbol found on the window of her Ukrainian Village law office and other local businesses.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

The Z symbol has appeared across Russia and in social media, but Iva-Ugryn, who came to Chicago with Ivanyshyn 16 years ago from western Ukraine, says she’s never heard of it surfacing in Chicago. So this week’s incidents have put the city’s Ukrainian community and many others on edge.

“Everyone is very, sickly worried,” Iva-Ugryn said.

Iva-Ugryn and Ivanyshyn have ordered cameras for outside their office. She took the image of the sticker to the 12th District police station to report it.

“The police didn’t understand the gravity of this happening because they didn’t know what the meaning is of this sign,” Iva-Ugryn said. “But because I personally drove there and showed the officer articles with pictures of those military cars and machines, then he understood.”

‘Posted to intimidate our Ukrainian community’

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), whose ward includes Ukrainian Village, condemned the action, calling it “an intimidation tactic against those who oppose Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

The stickers were also posted on the Ukrainian Village Veterinary Center and its mural, businesses on Chicago Avenue and on a “Help Support Ukraine” banner, along with other places throughout Ukrainian Village, according to Villegas and Iva-Ugryn.

A Ukrainian-themed mural by Sean Archer Art at 1859 W. Chicago Ave. in Ukrainian Village. The mural was marked with a “Z” symbol sticker.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“Make no mistake: these stickers were posted to intimidate our Ukrainian community,” Villegas said in the statement.

About 54,000 people of Ukrainian heritage lived in the Chicago area as of February 2022, and many call the Ukrainian Village neighborhood home.

“I hope Ukraine can get as much support as we need from the United States because this is not just our war,” said Popovych of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

Iva-Ugryn opened her immigration law practice on Chicago Avenue just before the Russian invasion in February 2022.

She hoped she’d be able to ease into working with clients, but that never happened. Her caseload quickly filled with people seeking refuge from Ukraine in Chicago.

‘We now need even more help’

When the war broke out, Chicago showed strong support for Ukraine, especially other ethnic groups like the Polish community, Iva-Ugryn said. People started to learn more about the country, its history and the complicated relationship between Ukraine and Russia.

“Ukraine was put on the map,” Iva-Ugryn said. “Chicago Bulls were sending players to the school. The media started showing up to our events and rallies.”

Attorney Svitlana Iva-Ugryn says that when war broke out last year in Ukraine, Chicago showed strong support for the country: “Ukraine was put on the map.”

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

But now, nearly two years later, that attention and support has waned.

“People are getting used to it, they see it now as some kind of local mess,” Iva-Ugryn said. “But that’s the problem, we are now in the second year and are seeing a change of dynamic. We now need even more help than in the beginning because the situation is quite dire.”

Iva-Ugryn recently spent three weeks in her home country, including a short stint near the front lines in Slavyansk, a city in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Soldiers shared their worries about countries like the U.S. losing interest in their cause.

“We just want politicians to stop playing with people’s lives,” Iva-Ugryn said. “We want people to understand this is not a question of politics, this is a question of our physical survival.”

Contributing: Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere

Chicago-area businesses close, dozens rally for cease-fire in Gaza

2023-12-11T21:12:11.18-06:00

Mohammed Mohsen owns Haraz Coffee House in Orland Park. “I want to see a permanent cease-fire where both sides are safe and free and [have] a solution for peace,” Mohsen said.

Quinn Harris/For The Sun-Times.

Scores of Chicago-area small businesses shut their doors for the day Monday and dozens gathered for a rally in Bridgeview to show solidarity with Gaza and call for an immediate cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

At least 200 businesses mainly in the south suburbs closed, including cafes, restaurants, bakeries, grocery shops, gas stations, furniture stores and auto repair shops, according to a list the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine shared with the Sun-Times. At least eight private schools did not hold classes Monday.

The closings came after Palestinian activists and organizations called for a global strike on social media.

Mohammed Mohsen, owner of Haraz Coffee House in Orland Park, said his business joined a call from Gazans to people worldwide to close their businesses and not go to school or work. He said he first heard about the call from Motaz Azaiza, a Palestinian photojournalist based in Gaza, and other activists online.

“I want to see a permanent cease-fire where both sides are safe and free and [have] a solution for peace,” Mohsen said. “Two states, one state doesn’t matter as long as we can all live together peacefully without systematic war.

“Enough is enough,” he added. “Nobody else needs to die.”

A supporter speaks during a rally at 87th and Harlem in Bridgeview, for which businesses closed in solidarity with Gaza on Monday.

Quinn Harris/For The Sun-Times.

The United Nations defines a cease-fire as a “suspension of fighting agreed upon by the parties to a conflict, typically as part of a political process. It is intended to be long-term and often covers the entire geographic area of the conflict. Its aim is usually to allow parties to engage in dialogue, including the possibility of reaching a permanent political settlement.”

The Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine held a rally in Bridgeview in support of the global strike Monday afternoon. The coalition, comprised of many local community organizations, has held more than a dozen rallies since Oct. 7 to show support for the Palestinian cause.

Attendees at the rally also said the strike was in response to the U.S. vetoing the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza on Friday. Many carried signs saying, “President Biden & Secretary Blinken: The blood of children is on your hands.”

“It’s so powerful how quickly we were able to show our solidarity with the people of Gaza today,” said Abla Abdelkader, a member of the Chicago chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, during a speech at the rally.

“As we gather today at the intersection of 87th and Harlem at the center of Little Palestine, you can look around and see all these businesses in this plaza are Palestinian and Arab owned,” she said. “And they all decided to close today.”

A business in Bridgeview has a “closed” sign posted on its window Monday. Private schools were closed and many businesses closed to show solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Quinn Harris/For The Sun-Times.

More Palestinians live in Cook County than any other county in the country, a WBEZ analysis found. Most live in the southwest suburbs, including in Orland Park, Oak Lawn, Tinley Park and Bridgeview.

The Palestinian death toll from the Israeli bombardment of Gaza recently surpassed 17,700 people — around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, though Hamas does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

It’s been more than two months since war broke out in the region after Hamas launched a wide-ranging attack across southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.

“Our children in our schools are witnessing children their age being pulled from the rubble,” said Nadia Ismail, an administrator at Aqsa School, an Islamic day school in Bridgeview that closed Monday.

“Our students cannot learn when they are faced with everything that is going on in Gaza,” she said.

Luaey Abdelrasoul, the co-owner of Holy Buckets Halal Chicken & Pizza in Bridgeview, said at Monday’s rally that closing his restaurant was an easy call to make.

From now till the end of the year, his business will be donating all money from sales to aid efforts in Gaza.

“Today we’re showing everybody that we care about our lives more than we care about money,” Abdelrasoul said. “We’re showing the world that we have humanity in us, and today we want our voices to be heard. We want the killings to stop.”

Mohsen, 38, was born in Bayt Iksa in the West Bank and came to the Chicago area when he was 5 years old. Most of his mom’s side of the family lives in Gaza.

Mohammed Mohsen, left, and Ramsey Shahbain at Haraz Coffee House in Orland Park. Mohsen said closing his cafe comes with high monetary costs, but it’s worth it to him to send a message of support to the people of Gaza.

Quinn Harris/For The Sun-Times.

Closing his cafe for the strike holds considerable financial cost for Mohsen. The rent for his business, which runs seven days a week, is $8,000 a month and he needs to make about $2,000 a day to break even.

But it’s worth it to send this message, he said. He has also raised funds to send to Gaza for humanitarian aid.

“Even though I can’t afford to close for one day, it’s not about the money,” Mohsen said. “Look at what’s happening over there. This is about humanity, and what’s happening to Gazans is not humane.”

Contributing: Nader Issa

Israel-Hamas War

The brownie was invented in Chicago 130 years ago

2023-12-08T11:44:52.054-06:00

Chocolate brownies are made at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago using a recipe that’s over 100 years old.

Palmer House Chicago

You have a Chicago socialite, a hotel pastry chef and the 1893 World’s Fair to thank for the existence of the brownie.

Or that’s at least what legend says.

Like many classic desserts, the brownie has mythical origins. And in honor of National Brownie Day, here’s Chicago’s claim to the brownie.

Bertha Honore was the wife of Potter Palmer, a wealthy Chicago businessman who built the Palmer House in the Loop in 1871, the hotel’s website says.

Honore chaired the Board of Lady Managers for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The board had 117 members and marked the first time women served in any official capacity at a world’s fair, according to the National Park Service.

She wanted to create a special treat for the fair so she went to the Palmer House’s pastry chef, Joseph Sehl. She tasked Sehl with creating a “chocolate cake-like treat” that could be easily boxed and transported, the website says.

Your favorite Halloween candy probably has Chicago ties

Sehl’s final product was the Palmer House Brownie, a chocolatey treat made with walnuts and an apricot glaze.

Five years after the exposition, according to the National Park Service, a Sears Roebuck catalog published the first mention of the “brownie” by name.

A brownie is still on the menu at Palmer House’s Lockwood restaurant. It’s now called Bertha’s Brownie and comes with a chocolate ganache-berry coulie and brownie crumble for $13.

A brownie cheesecake is also offered at the Potter’s Chicago Burger Bar in the hotel. The dish is served with apricots, candied walnuts, brownie crumble and whipped cream for $12.

Chocolate brownies are made at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago using a recipe that’s over 100 years old.

Palmer House Chicago

West Side fire kills man, leaves his mom, 2 cops injured

2023-12-06T18:38:20.323-06:00

A man is dead and a woman was in critical condition Wednesday after a fire swept through their home in the 1200 block of South Kedvale Avenue in Lawndale.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

A fire tore through a Lawndale home Wednesday, critically injuring a beloved community matriarch and killing her adult son.

Dessie Street escaped the flames on her own and collapsed outside her home at 1249 S. Kedvale Ave.

The body of her son, Carlos Street, was later recovered in the charred wreckage. He likely tried to flee but was crushed by debris near the front door, Chicago Fire Department officials said.

Two Chicago police officers arrived just after 1 a.m. before fire crews. They were injured when the front porch collapsed as they searched for Carlos Street, authorities said.

One officer was pulled from the burning debris and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition. He has since stabilized. The other officer, whose leg was caught in the rubble, was treated at Rush University Medical Center and has been released.

Dessie Street, 75, was initially taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, where she was intubated, Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said Wednesday afternoon. She suffered burns and smoke inhalation.

She was stabilized and taken to the hospital’s burn unit, her brother, Joseph Johnson, said Wednesday evening.

“She’s doing a little better, we’re praying for the best, so that’s the good thing,” Johnson said.

Johnson identified Dessie and Carlos Street for the Sun-Times. He stood outside for hours Wednesday morning as fire crews used an excavator to take apart the gutted home searching for his nephew.

“I’m hurt, I also feel numb. I’ve been crying all morning,” Johnson said. “At the same time, I gotta keep it together for my family.”

An excavator tears into a Lawndale house as fire crews searched for a missing man. The man, Carlos Street, was found dead. His mother is hospitalized with burns and smoke inhalation.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Johnson said Carlos Street was a “real sweet kid” in his 30s and had special needs.

Carlos Street enjoyed video games and had a talent for working with computers, Johnson said.

He lived with his mom, a seamstress who ran her business out of the home and had lived there for 25 years, Johnson said.

Relatives and neighbors described her as a leader and community matriarch who would always lend a helping hand. She was often available to provide a last-minute hem on a dress or to patch a hole.

“She’s like a mother to everybody in the neighborhood,” Johnson said of his older sister.

Her birthday is Thursday, Johnson said. For every birthday, he brings her poinsettia flowers and Champagne to celebrate.

“She raised me. My mother died when I was 14, so she’s always been like a second mother to me,” Johnson said.

Portions of the fire-gutted home in the 1200 block of South Kedvale Avenue in Lawndale were torn down in the search for a missing resident.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Next-door neighbor Sylvester Jackson said he was awakened by Dessie Street yelling for help before firefighters knocked on his door to warn him about the fire.

“I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m gonna be homeless,’” Jackson told the Sun-Times. “That’s the first thing that came to my mind. I’m looking at this horrific fire.”

He saw Street collapsed and covered with cuts and scrapes outside her home.

“It hit me hard, seeing her down on the ground like that,” Jackson said.

Jackson, 62, said he’s known Dessie Street and her family his whole life. He was good friends with one of her brothers when they were growing up, and their two families have been close for generations.

“She’s a real special lady; it’s just awful this happened to her,” Jackson said.

The cause of Wednesday morning’s fire at 1249 S. Kedvale remains under investigation.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

The search for Carlos Street

During a news conference at the fire scene, fire department District Chief Jim McDonough said the police officers were in the area and arrived ahead of firefighters when the 12-by-12-foot porch collapsed.

“They went in to look for the second victim,” McDonough said. “They kicked the front door in, and the amount of fire and smoke came over them, and that front porch came loose.”

The attic collapsed onto the first floor of the home, officials said, burying Carlos Street under several feet of debris. It took crews hours to recover his body.

“He was found on the first floor, in the front, not too far from the front door,” Langford said. “He must have been trying to make his way out.”

The flames died down by 8 a.m., and gas service was shut off so the fire department could use heavy equipment to dismantle the structure and search for Carlos Street.

Before Street’s body was found, fire department Cmdr. Walter Schroeder said officials knew one person might still be inside, but firefighters were not able to get into the building because they feared it could collapse.

Before she was taken away in an ambulance, Dessie Street told firefighters and officers she thought her son was still inside, Langford said.

Fire crews tore the house down Wednesday morning. The cause of the fire remains unknown, Langford said, and determining a cause might be impossible given the damage.

“The forensic evidence is pretty much destroyed as the building was taken apart, so we’re gonna have to go on witness statements,” Langford said. “It’s going to take a while, if we ever know.”

A firefighter stands in front of the Lawndale house where resident Carlos Street was killed in a fire Wednesday morning.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Illinois in the middle of the road nationally on traffic safety, according to report

2023-12-05T17:50:31.076-06:00

A new report on road safety gives Illinois high marks for distracted driving rules and automated speed enforcement. But there is room for improvement: In 2022, more than 1,200 people died in traffic crashes in Illinois, up from 1,010 in 2019.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times (file)

Illinois gets a mixed score in a new nationwide report on the strength of the state’s roadway safety laws.

The report, by the group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, rated each state based on whether it has certain traffic safety laws in place.

Illinois fell short for its lack of a motorcycle helmet requirement, child passenger safety rules and teen driving regulations, according to the report released Tuesday. The state drew good marks for having comprehensive distracted-driving laws and automated speed enforcement.

“For more than two decades, Advocates has issued this annual report to provide ways to prevent or mitigate crashes. It is a how-to guide and call to action for legislative and regulatory officials,” said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

Roadway fatalities consistently declined in the U.S. over three decades thanks to the adoption of regulations like speed limits and airbag requirements.

But over the last decade, the decline in deaths slowed, and since 2020, motor vehicle deaths have spiked, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In 2022, over 1,200 people died in traffic crashes in Illinois, according to data from the Illinois Department of Transportation. In 2019, 1,010 people died.

The Advocates report shows that roadway safety laws have not kept pace with growing safety problems, said Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor who studies public policy and transportation.

“It really seems to be getting worse year after year, yet we’re ignoring proven safety methods that work,” Schwieterman said.

Should new cars come with speeding control systems? Drivers in Chicago have mixed reactions to federal push

The report identified 16 traffic safety laws proven to reduce crashes, injuries and deaths, Chase said. Illinois has eight of the 16 on its books.

“Illinois did well for enacting primary enforcement laws that require passengers in both the front and back seats to wear seat belts, which is the most important first line of defense,” Chase said.

The state also scored well on distracted driving for restricting cellphone use behind the wheel.

But the state is behind the curve on laws aimed at protecting motorcyclists and kids and teens in cars, the report’s rating found.

Illinois is one of only three states that doesn’t have a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets.

Helmet requirements are proven to reduce deaths and injuries, said Dan Petterson, the president of Skilled Motorcyclist Association–Responsible, Trained and Educated Riders.

“There’s a tremendous amount of research on the effectiveness of helmets. They do their job they’re designed to do, which is to protect an individual’s head and brain in a crash,” Petterson said.

States without helmet requirements see nearly 10 times as many un-helmeted motorcyclists die in crashes than states with such laws, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In 2021, 174 motorcyclists died in crashes in Illinois, and 60% of them involved a rider without a helmet, the NHTSA showed.

“Helmet effectiveness and use is without a doubt scientifically proven to be safe,” Petterson said. “And the easiest, quickest and cheapest way to get people to use helmets is to have an all-rider motorcycle helmet use requirement.”

But a vocal minority of motorcyclists resist these laws and say a helmet requirement infringes on their rights, Petterson said.

Bolstering child, teen safety

The report determined Illinois could do more to keep child passengers and teen drivers safe on the road.

“These laws are less controversial as they’re about protecting younger passengers and teen drivers and passengers. Children can’t protect themselves, and teens are one of the most dangerous driving populations,” Chase said.

For example, Illinois does not require kids ages 12 and younger to ride in the back seat. Though the transportation department does recommend it under its child passenger safety guidelines.

The report also recommends the state bolster its graduated driver’s license program by requiring:

Beginning teen drivers be 16 to obtain a learner’s permit. The current age in Illinois is 15.
Teen drivers obtain at least 70 hours of supervised driving before getting their license. The state currently requires 50 hours.
A nighttime driving restriction that starts at 8 p.m. The driving curfew for Illinois is at 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Only family passengers ride with a teen driver without an adult in the car. Currently, for the first year of being licensed, a teen can only carry one person under the age of 20, unless the additional passengers are family members. After that, they can drive any amount of people of any age.

Bedford Park police officer shot at gas station

2023-11-26T19:26:12.797-06:00

A Bedford Park police officer was shot at a Speedway gas station in the 6800 block of South Archer Road on Sunday.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A Bedford Park police officer is in stable condition after he was shot multiple times early Sunday, according to the Bedford Park Police Department.

The shooting occurred about 3:40 a.m. at a gas station in the 6800 block of South Archer Road, police said. Officers were there responding to reports of a nearby car crash.

A car, reported stolen in Chicago, was found heavily damaged in the 6700 block of South Archer Road, police said. Surveillance footage showed two people flee the wrecked car, police said. Moments later, officers saw them emerge from a grassy area and enter another car at the gas station.

Officers approached the two people in the car and one of them would not comply with the officers, police said. After a struggle, the person fired several shots at an officer, police said.

The officer was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition. Police arrested two people and recovered two firearms.

Car veers into Lake Michigan near Streeterville

2023-11-25T09:59:46.838-06:00

A car ended up in Lake Michigan near Streeterville early Saturday, police said.

Sun-Times file

No one was injured when a car veered into Lake Michigan off DuSable Lake Shore Drive early Saturday.

Officers found a blue sedan in the lake near Chicago Avenue around 3 a.m., according to Chicago police.

Divers from the CPD marine unit found the car and determined no one was inside, police said.

A witness told investigators they saw three people run from the scene.

No one was in custody.

1 dead after freight train, semitruck collide in Back of the Yards rail yard

2023-11-20T17:54:28.372-06:00

A person died Monday when a freight train backed into a FedEx semitruck in Back of the Yards, fire officials said.

ABC7 Chicago

A man was killed after a freight train backed into a FedEx semi in Back of the Yards on Monday morning.

The collision happened about 6:30 a.m. in the Norfolk Southern rail yard at 350 W. Garfield Ave., Chicago police said.

La Voz Sidebar 2023

Lea este artículo en español en La Voz Chicago.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and began to extricate the 29-year-old truck driver. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police and Chicago Fire Department officials said.

“Norfolk Southern is aware of an incident involving a truck driver at our 47th Street intermodal facility in Chicago Monday morning. Our thoughts are with their family and colleagues during this difficult time. We are working with first responders to fully investigate the incident,” Norfolk Southern said in a statement.

FedEx referred all questions about the crash to Norfolk Southern.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration did not return calls seeking comment. The Federal Railroad Administration said it will not be investigating the incident as it didn’t meet its criteria for an investigation.

The fire department did have not have more details.

350 west Garfield Norfolk and Southern rail yard. A freight train has struck a semi Semi was stopped on tracks on rail property updated information indicates we have a fatality CFD is making recovery. (Langford)
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) November 20, 2023

Girl, 16, grazed in Irving Park neighborhood drive-by

2023-11-20T06:21:22.394-06:00

Sun-Times file

A 16-year-old girl was grazed by a bullet while sitting in the back of a car early Monday in the Irving Park neighborhood, Chicago police said.

She was hit in the arm just after midnight in the 3600 block of North Sawyer Avenue, police said. She was taken in good condition to Swedish Hospital.

A man behind the wheel of the car she was in said the shooter was in a white SUV, according to police. No one was in custody.

Brighton Park man charged in triple fatal shooting

2023-11-19T07:48:15.815-06:00

Adobe stock photo

A 19-year-old man was accused of killing three men in Brighton Park earlier this month.

Jesus Franco, a Brighton Park resident, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a 19-year-old man and two 29-year-old men about 1:10 a.m. Nov. 4 in the 3100 block of West 39th Place, Chicago police said.

Officers found the three victims inside a red Dodge SUV and on the ground near the car, according to police.

One man inside the SUV had been shot in the head and the other suffered multiple gunshot wounds across the body, police said.

The 19-year-old had been shot in the back of the head. They were all dead at the scene, police said.

Franco was arrested in Austin on Friday and appears in court for the first time on Sunday.