At least three men were injured in a shooting outside a Chicago church as friends and loved ones left a funeral service, officials said.
At a news conference, a church official said the number of those affected or injured could rise to five, as it is possible that some victims may have used private vehicles to seek medical attention.
The service was for a gang interventionist, known only by his nickname, who was well known in the Roseland community, an official from the Universal Community Missionary Baptist Church, where the violence took place, said.
Chicago police said the known victims, all men ages 20, 25 and 37, were hospitalized in good condition. But police later said one of the three was in serious to critical condition, another in fair to serious condition and the third in good to serious condition.
Someone in a gray sedan opened fire as the victims stood outside the church, police said. No one was arrested and the motive is under investigation.
Pastor Donovan Price, executive director of the Chicago-based crisis intervention group Solutions and Resources, said at a news conference Saturday’s attacks may be related to the topic of the funeral service.
He said the interventionist commemorated Saturday, whom he identified only as “Big Mike,” was “known for his good deeds, known for his positivity.”
Chicago continued to struggle this summer with its well-known and relatively high number of shootings, a deadly problem that has led political pundits to blame the city’s predominant political affiliation — the Democratic Party.
Defenders of the city’s leadership have said violence is a disease that needs steadfast intervention to break cycles of revenge often associated with gangs, but which take place outside them more than inside them.
Ava Kelley contributed.