Police say a 21-year-old Evanston man was shot in the leg at 2040 Dodge Ave. just before 1 p.m. today.
Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott says Fire Department paramedics transported the victim to Evanston Hospital where he’s being treated for what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.
Parrott said it appears several shots were fired in the incident. Police have closed off Dodge between Simpson and Foster streets temporarily while the investigation continues.
‘Police were searching for suspects who witnesses saw drive off from the shooting scene in a grey or silver Hyundai Santa Fe. Police later found an unoccupied vehicle matching that description in a parking lot at the Skokie sculpture park south of Dempster Street on McCormick Boulevard, a mile-and-a-half from the shooting scene.
Officers on the scene of the shooting at 2040 Dodge Ave.
Parrott said it was too early to tell whether today’s shooting may be related to another shooting incident Monday evening that left another Evanston man hospitalized with gunshot wounds to both legs.
He said no one is in custory for today’s shooting and anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the detective bureau at (847) 866-5040 or use the anonymous text-a-tip program by texting to CRIMES (274637) with EPD TIP in the message line followed by the tip information.
Four blocks away, hundreds of ETHS students
Just four blocks away, hundreds of kids (and maybe more than 1,000) are attending summer school at ETHS. Dismissal time is 1:35 p.m.
Just how close do we need to have these shootings until the City of Evanston does something serious to reduce the violence in the blocks north of the high school?
Please don’t tell me about how the violence is outside the school building and takes place outside of school hours. This shooting was during school hours and too close for us to ignore yet again. And what about students traveling to and from school?
What is wrong with everyone?
In front of ETHS while summer school is in session…..THIS IS RIDICULOUS! But hey, let's protect everyone's rights and not have cameras! REALLY? I could care less about your rights…stop putting our INNOCENT kids in the middle of your family feud! You lost your rights when you started ruining this town with your shootings! Who will be the next Dajae? What is wrong with everyone?
How many shootings?
How many shootings is that in the last week or so?
Welcom to Iranaston
Chicago is known as Chiraq. Time for Evanston to be Iranaston.
Oh, Evanston
As someone who has gone from living on Chicago's Southside (in the late 70s) and then moving up here for a better life and education as a child. These folks need to be sent to a real bad hood and learn to appreciate what we have up here. I remember moving up here and being in awe of all the trees and no abandoned buildings or lots… I just don't get how a few bad apples can paralyze a whole community into inaction. Turn them in and call the police often as to make it so uncomfortable for them to operate that they stop, leave the neighborhood, or get incarcerated.
Are you kidding me?
Well good for you that it’s better than where you were but for us this is a war zone. Ridiculous! I’m so sick of this! Makes me sick!
Duh
Not sure if you read or just skim… but clearly my post is about being "so sick of this" as well and that Evanston is now becoming what I once experienced on the Southside. Your knee-jerk post is part of the problem — we all need to take ownership, as residents of this community, and stop the whining about being sick of something. I call the cops and have run down a purse snatcher in my own neighorhood. Its not cute or kids bing kids having them smoking pot and being loud disturbing the peace… What has happened around ETHS, happened "one brick at a time"…
If you are truly sick of all "this" then call the cops if you see folks loitering on the block, run for city government, make a stand! Because you are delusional if you think the current city government is going all it can or reaching out to the communityto fix this. All I see is them doing what they always have — contain this activity to an area they feel is manageable.
Clearly the residents are too scared to stand up to the people destroying their neighborhood. Would you challenge someone with a gun to leave the neighborhood? I don’t think so. They should be able to rely on the city government to do what our tax dollars are paying for.
In my opinion, there should be a strong police presence in an area where there is high crime, until those elements are unable to operate unfettered. There should be a program – city funded and run by the police, to create a neighborhood watch in communities that want it. And those watches should have an officer posted to the group as they walk the neighborhood and for those communuties to have an officer to call directly.
It’s not about a blame thing – but the solution takes both the residents (all of us) and the city goverment. I think the residents are will, but if the city is unwilling – lets vote them out and get folks in who are willing to do the hard work and not there to just get a salary (from your tax dollars). And stop catering to the downtown, North, and Eastern parts of the city.
Again, all my opinion.
Agreed!
Sorry, I probably did skim and also so used to people making excuses for these shootings. I agree 100% with you. Believe me, I'm not one the the people afraid to call the cops. I have, and have celebrated the results. I'm to the point of let them all kill each other, just don't want my kid caught in the cross fire.
Evanston has a gang problem
Evanston has a gang problem that our politicians refuse to address for what it is.
Instead they are busy with subsidizing distilleries, various human rights proclamations and an assault weapons ban.
It is pretty clear where the major areas are
Anyone who reads EvanstonNow or the police reports, constantly sees certain addresses and areas of Evanston mentioned as high crime spots or 'perps' coming from those areas. With the "see no evil" and "we must not blame these victims of society" city government and bleeding heart community members that would not be caught dead in these areas wanting to stop any substantial effort to clean up these areas, not much will change.
At a minimum anyone found guilty of a violent crime or perhaps a felony should have their rental contract canceled and forced to move out. I don't know where they can go, but certainly Evanston must make clear they will not be permitted here. Maybe they and the parents [many who deplore the activities of their kids but are powerless to do what is necessary] will realize the cost.
There are certainly many law abiding citizens in these areas and some trapped in living in buildiings and blocks with high crime rates and would welcome the police and perhaps special forces to take substantial actions. They realize much better than the Council and the bleeding heart liberals that there is a real problem. Evanston unlike Chicago is small enough that a few 'sweeps' and dedicated police actions should get the message across quickly. .
Don’t forget the biggest threat.
Our politicians are busy trying to ban plastic bags. Thank you for saving us from the dangers of plastic!
Our politicians are harrassing non-profits. Thank you for kicking the Art Center and C.A.R.E. out of their homes!
I feel so much safer about my kids growing up in Evanston if I don't have to worry about plastic bags and non-profits.
As long as the elected and ordained (city manager) ignore the problems of violence in town, we'll have to worry about our kids getting shot. Shame on you City Council, Mayor and City Manager.
HOW DO WE GET RID OF WALLY? LET'S GET SOME GOOD CIVIC MINDED CITIZENS TO RUN FOR ALDERMEN. Not just ones who care about their pet projects and developers.
Great points
Absolutely agree with you, except that I am glad EAC is out since they took such aggregious advantage of their stay.
it is simply misplaced priorities. Plastic bag bans, bikes, theatre seats, wine bars, money for theatre groups and art galleries…On and on.
Like I said on another topic, residents of Evanston, yet another issue to take to the ballot box for this mayor and alderman.
Community
This is not just a 5th ward problem or something that the police alone need to take care of. Whether we like it or not the people responsible for these shootings are part of Evanston, part of our community. Making such a drastic change in culture cannot happen without the combined effort of the entire community. The people shooting are 20 something kids who are lost and are more often than not a product of this community. All I hear on these comments is “we need more police patrols, we need the police to do something, someone who knows these people needs to come forward.” Stop complaining about something you are not willing to help solve. Correct me if I am wrong but I think that the majority of the people posting on here do not live in the 5th ward – thus have no right to blame anyone living there for what is going on because at the end of the day you really don’t have to worry about being an innocent bystander or (this is super generalized but probably true) having a personal connection to any of the victims. The people living where the violence occurs have the most to lose, Evanston as a community needs to support them while at the same time learning from them. We cant expect different results if we don’t try different solutions! We are a progressive open-minded community, collectively we can do something about this.
I would feel bad for these
I would feel bad for these kids if they were living in hopeless communities on the South side. They are not. They are living in a safe and culturally rich suberb with excellent schools. Their successful futures are there for the grasping. What different solutions do they need other than try to graduate and stay away from gangs, guns and drugs?
I can think of 3120 possible
I can think of 3120 possible innocent bystanders who no matter what neighborhood they live in could be in harms way every school day. And that gives us all a right to be angry, complain and want to see change.
Can’t be connected and disconnected at the same time
I congradulate you for finding out how many students go to ETHS but your argument has no bearing on this conversation. Obviously anyone can potentially be an innocent bystander or a victim of a random act of violence, however, ETHS is one of the most secure areas of Evanston with a heavy police presence. I can't tell the future but I am sure that your children will not be shot waiting out front of the school or playing an AYSO soccer game on a sunday. Now if your children are hanging out on Brown Ave. after school (which I seriously doubt) you probably have a whole mess of problems to worry about including them being shot. There are certain areas in the 5th ward (where the violence is occuring) where people who dont live there know not to go. It is very sad that this it true but it is a reality. I am sorry your children's friends have been effected by gun violence which has in turn effected them. I only ask you to think about the victims and their families and how they must feel. You cant be connected to the violence and disconnected at the same time (think about it).
Solution?
So the solution is to first blame someone or something for these kids actions… Like they are victims of their community (as you claim) or the rich (here is a popular one) or whatever the straw man of the week is.
Then, as has been done so often with no results… Throw taxpayer money at the problem to create "programs" and non profits to try and help these offenders, to cuddle them since they truely are the victims.
The victims are the dead, the families and the community who has to live in fear.
So, what to do. I like neighborhood watch. I like a stronger police presence. In fact since we know where this happening, how about a police surge to flood this area? I'd rather pay for overtime cops than support soft programs and senseless non profits.
Make a statement with force and presence. Captured offenders, no leniency, just hard jail time.
Instead of focusing on the plight of these thugs as victims, we can turn the focus to the consequences of crime by making examples of captured thugs. And that is what they are.
My writing that was in
My writing that was in response to the statements about those of us outside the 5th ward not really being affected by the violence. Yet my kids are. And ETHS students are. And given all that has happened how can you really assume that my kids are safe anywhere in Evanston? Shots have been fired during baseball games, near school proerty and in the middle of the day. Being of one race, culture or neighborhood doesn't automatically make you more or less "connected". You have no idea how much I am connected. You know nothing about me and how I participate in this community. We need to face the facts that a few people are endangering our community and we need to deal with that not place blame on the innocent.
Crime in E-Town
Well I graduated Evanston in 1998 and there was violence in that time too. As I have left my city and have moved to another state I still check on what's going on in Evanston. It breaks my heart that the community of Evanston is not stepping in I can remember my God Father Mr. Herman Ruff use to stand on the corner of Church and Dodge and speak about the violence everyday God rest his soul we need people more like him to take the city back as a whole get these families who stay in those areas and put there foot down and speak up, and vote for people who will make a change for Evanston and not be scared to speak up for the people in Evanston that is what the city council is for. Who in the hell are you voting for to speak for you. If you don't mind that the person you voted for can sleep good at night and not care two cents on why we are killing ourselves as a whole shows you that you have the wrong people speaking for you so if Evanston gets it in there head one aim one goal and be elevated and embraced the community as a whole then Evanston will forever be in the news about our young people killing each other and high crime. Send them to the South they will see how these white people don't play about the crime here because they will tell you they don't want that mess in there area and police don't play down here either they will scoop you and take you to jail and not think twice about you Wake up Evanston. Just wake up and take your city back. God Bless
And for the record, all of my
And for the record, all of my children personally know either a victim or a family member of a victim who was killed in the last 2 years. So they do have a personal connection. When your 3rd grader comes home and asks why a classmates dad was shot dead in the street it affects your family now too. When your high school age child knows an innocent kid who dies in front of a park where her siblings play Ayso soccer on Sundays it affects your family. When your middle school age son sits in class with the brother and cousin of a family member who was killed and therefore has to endure an armed police officer standing guard inside the doors of their school, it affects your family. No matter who we are or where we live we are all Evanstonians and we want this to end. For us and for our children.
Does this surprise anyone?
Does this surprise anyone? Have you walked by that building? Unlike the well kept homes, that plasce has slumlord written all over it. Maybe the city should invest in the neighborhood? Perhaps use the 5 million needed to restore the mansion on the lake to buy up some properties and stabilize this section of Evanston? As others have said, what about the kids at ETHS? For all we pay in taxes, I think we should feel confident our kids can feel safe in the areas surrounding the school.
Good thought
Let's stop buying up bad Howard Street buildings and start buying up these properties. Makes a lot more sense to me than a wine bar on Howard or a theater or restaraunt. Much better investment of funds.
A neighbor perspective
As someone who works in the neighboord and with family who lives here I can say the city actually has been buying houses in the neighborhood and fixing them up for low income housing and the police have been stepping up patrols and putting their portable camera truck around this summer. They've also been working towards getting slum buildings fixed up so deadbeat landlords and tenants are finding fewer opportunities. Sadly change takes time. In the 10 years since I've been in the neighboorhood, it's changed hugely (which is not to say that there isn't still a ways to go). There are more families and business who want to make this a great neighborhood. I think the city should continue the good stuff they are doing here. There is a fine line between good police presence and a feeling of "big brother" and I think the police force is being pretty good about walking the line. Right now I think the summer is "heating things up" and the police probably need a few more patrols to help manage, but again there's only so much they can do. Gangs and young people with guns and unhappy dispositions are an ongoing problem of poverty with no single situation. Hopefully more neighboors will continue to report agression when they first see it so perhaps the flareups won't get so bad or can be dispersed.
Evanston Police surveillance
Evanston Police surveillance "war wagon" has been parked on that block and south of there all weekend…. my guess is that the cops are hip to what is going on….
What’s the reason behind this Evanston gun violence?
Rumor on the street is that two families have declaed war on each other and more violence around Dodge is expected.
I wonder if gangbangers from Chicago have moved into Evanston in the past several years due to the neighborhood stabilization program and other recent government housing programs, causing riffs between gangs?
What’s the reason behind this Evanston Gun Violence
Re: comment submitted by anonymous Al:
Neighborhood Stabilization is not a bad thing. Do some homework. Any family could receive help through programs like these. Gang bangers as you referred to probably can't qualify for such programs because you have to have a verifiable income……..last time i checked gangbangers weren't punching clocks making an honest days living.
My home town?
There have been so many shootings and killings in my home town Evanston that now my friends that live there are calling it E-RAQ! That's a damn shame!
Correction
Correction, it is Iranaston. Iraq thing is already taken by Chiraq