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Chicago Police: 14 Injured in Drive-By Shooting at Funeral Home

VOA News

   Police in Chicago say 14 people were injured after gunfire erupted late
   Tuesday outside a funeral home on the city's South Side, where mourners
   had gathered for a funeral.

   Chicago Police First Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter told reporters a
   black sports utility vehicle came speeding down the street and fired on
   the mourners. He said several of those targeted by the shooters
   returned fire.

   The SUV later crashed, and the occupants fled in several directions.
   Carter said all the victims were adults. Carter said at least 60 shell
   casings were found at the scene.

   Carter said "a person of interest" was in custody and being questioned,
   but no arrests had been made. He said the identities of the shooters
   among the mourners were not known.

   A police spokesman said the victims were taken by the Chicago Fire
   Department to nearby hospitals in serious condition. Police have not
   indicated a motive for the shooting.

   From her Twitter account late Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
   called the gunmen "cowardly" and urged people with information about
   the shooting to come forward. She said those responsible would he held
   accountable. She said, "We cannot give shelter to killers. People know
   who are responsible."

   The incident comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has said he plans to
   deploy federal agents to the streets of Chicago to quell violence
   there. According to the Associated Press, Mayor Lightfoot at first
   resisted the idea, but changed her tone after she and members of her
   administration spoke with federal officials about the plan.

   Lightfoot, however, has said that while the city welcomes an actual
   partnership, "we do not welcome dictatorship." The mayor has also been
   quoted as saying, "We do not welcome authoritarianism, and we do not
   welcome unconstitutional arrest and detainment of our residents. That
   is something I will not tolerate."