2 killed, 8 injured in city violence since Friday night - Chicago Sun-Times

SUN-TIMES MEDIA December 30, 2012 11:04AM

Chicago Police on the scene of a homicide in the alley of 500 east 109th. Sunday, December 30, 2012 | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times

Updated: December 30, 2012 9:28PM

Chrystal Kyles stood in the cold in the middle of East 51st Street on Sunday night and tried to comfort her grieving family as they grappled with the news that Chicago's ongoing gun violence had finally touched their home.

She said the city's latest victim, shot to death on the South Side, was her only brother, 28-year-old Christopher Thomas. Kyles said he was the father of a young girl.

Thomas was a musician, she said, who had been on his way to a studio to record a song.

Instead, police said he was gunned down at about 5:10 p.m. near 51st and Indiana in the Washington Park neighborhood.

That's where Kyles stood making phone calls through tears and where a woman identified as Thomas' mother fell to the ground, wailing as she kicked her feet in despair. His family insisted Thomas wasn't involved with gangs.

"You never think the violence will hit directly at your home," Kyles said.

Chicago Police said they were questioning two suspects about the shooting Sunday night.

Police officers got to the scene of the shooting just in time to see two suspects take off in a car, police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien said. It was unclear whether police officers witnessed the shooting or were nearby when shots were fired, he said.

The officers followed the car onto the Dan Ryan Expy., where the car crashed, police said.

Officers arrested the two men near 43rd Street and Indiana, police said, citing early reports.

Earlier Sunday, a man was found shot to death in an alley in the South Roseland neighborhood.

The 19-year-old man was found about 11:30 am. Sunday in the 500 block of East 109th Street, and he had been shot in the head, police said.

In other weekend violence in Chicago, eight people — one of them a pizza deliveryman who was stabbed multiple times in a robbery — have been injured since Friday night.

A woman was shot in the leg at 4:55 a.m. Sunday in the 800 block of West Jackson in the West Loop. She was taken to Stroger Hospital . No one was in custody, though police say several people have been questioned.

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg at 3:45 a.m. while leaving a home in the 4700 block of South Karlov in the Archer Heights neighborhood. Police initially stated the shooting occurred in the 4000 block of West 47th Street. An occupant of a dark SUV opened fire, striking the boy, who was not thought to be the intended target, police said. The occupants of the SUV were involved in an earlier altercation. The boy was treated at Mount Sinai Hospital and released, police said.

Also Sunday, a man was shot in the arm and another was shot in the back in the 7100 block of West Grand in the Montclare neighborhood, police said.

The two men, ages 27 and 28, were leaving a restaurant or bar when they were shot while getting into a car, police said. They drove themselves to Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center about 3:20 a.m., where they initially were listed in serious condition. They were later transferred to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

About 8 p.m. Saturday, a 40-year-old pizza deliveryman was stabbed five times in a robbery in the 8500 block of South Green Bay in the South Chicago neighborhood, police News Affairs Officer Joshua Purkiss said. The deliveryman called the customer when he arrived at the home, police said. The suspect stabbed the deliveryman in a gangway, then took the food and cash and ran. The victim was taken in serious condition to South Shore Hospital, police said.

A 16-year-old boy was in serious condition after he was shot in the neck about 11 p.m. Friday night on the South Side. He was in a car in the 200 block of East 51st Street when he was shot, police said. The boy was dropped off at Mercy Hospital, police said, and was later transferred to Stroger Hospital for treatment.

About 6:30 p.m. Friday, a 34-year-old man was shot in abdomen in the 4000 block of West 16th Street in the Lawndale neighborhood, police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien said. His family took him to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, O'Brien said.