As most citizens of the Windy City were gearing up for Christmas Day, others were still engaging in gangland shootings, and in the 48 hours leading up to the blessed day, three people were killed and seven were wounded—including a well-known local rap artist.
The mayhem started on Wednesday evening when two men were killed and six others wounded. The shootings included a local rapper known as King Louie, who was shot in the head.
The deaths occurred only half a mile apart on the city’s South Side. Just after 6PM, a 39-year-old man was found shot to death in his home on the 1000 block of North Lamon Ave. He was pronounced dead on the scene, and police had no suspects in custody.
The second was killed at 1:45PM in the 1100 block of North Leclaire Avenue. Along with the death of the 33-year-old man, a 55-year-old man and a woman were wounded.
Four others were wounded in separate shootings across the city on Wednesday night.
The most notable crime occurred at about 3:30PM when rapper King Louie, whose real name is Louis Johnson, was shot in the head in the Ashburn neighborhood.
As King Louie, Johnson is known in the city for coining the phrase “Chiraq” and for making a cameo appearance on Kanye West’s sixth album, “Yeezus.”
Johnson was shot in the left side of his head as he sat in his auto, police reported.
The pre-Christmas violence continued on Christmas Eve. On the evening of December 24, a 30-year-old man was killed and a 16-year-old teen was shot in separate incidents.
The older of the two victims was killed at about 5PM in the city’s Manor Park neighborhood, while the teen was shot in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the city’s West Side.
The boy was shot twice in the legs and is listed in stable condition at Mount Sinai Hospital.
2015 has been one of Chicago’s most dangerous years, already reaching 2,505 shot and wounded and 433 killed by gunfire.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.