Authorities are investigating a quadruple homicide at a fast-food restaurant and the fatal shooting of a pregnant woman in separate incidents that occurred within hours of each other Thursday in one neighborhood in the nation’s third-largest city.

The spate of killings comes as Chicago has tallied nearly 900 murders in the last 15 months.

Four male victims were found in or around the Nadia Fish and Chicken restaurant around 3:50 p.m. in the city’s South Shore neighborhood, according to police.

Police said that a male suspect approached the restaurant and fired shots. When officers arrived at the scene, they found two of the victims inside the restaurant, one victim outside the restaurant, and a fourth unresponsive in nearby yard. Two of the victims were identified as brothers Raheem, 19, and Dillon Jackson, 20, and a third victim was identified as Emmanuel Stokes, 28. Authorities had not yet released the name of the fourth victim.

Hours earlier, police responded to an incident at an apartment about a mile from the restaurant in which a pregnant 26-year-old woman, Patrice Calvin, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. No suspects were in custody for either incident.

Late Thursday, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a Twitter posting that investigators believe that the shooting at the restaurant was "gang-related retaliation from another incident." A team of detectives were canvassing the area Thursday evening and looking for private security video from area businesses  that may have captured portions of the incident, Guglielmi said. The department also beefed up patrols in the neighborhood following the shootings.

With more than 760 murders last year, Chicago tallied more killings than New York City and Los Angeles combined. It was the highest murder toll for the city in nearly two decades.

Through the first three months of 2017, murders have slightly decreased with the city recording 123 murders through Sunday, compared to 136 at the same time last year, according to police department data.

The bulk of the murders have occurred in a few predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods on the city’s South and West sides. Police department brass say the vast majority of the killings are tied to the gang-fueled drug trade in those areas.

On the campaign trail and over his first two months in the White House, President Trump has repeatedly criticized Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city leadership for not doing enough to stem the violence. Trump has also made vague threats to order federal intervention.

Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson have called on Trump to help fight the gun violence by sending the city more ATF agents and federal prosecutors. They've also asked Trump to boost funding for job and mentorship programs.

In recent months, the police department has built a series of data-driven support centers in some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods that use hyper-local video and data to help officers more quickly respond to shootings and help police predict where the next incident may occur.

Share This Post