4 wounded in shooting near ‘O Block’ in Grand Crossing

Four people were wounded in a shooting Wednesday evening near “O Block,” a notoriously violent Chicago street that includes the sprawling Parkway Gardens low-income apartment complex.

The shooting occurred about 6:17 p.m. in the 6300 block of South Calumet Avenue in Grand Crossing, around the corner from the 6400 block of South Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, known locally as “O Block,” according to Chicago police. An officer-in-distress call was broadcast over police radio after a large crowd gathered at the scene.

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the chest and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, officials said.

Three other gunshot victims arrived at the same hospital, where they were listed in good condition. Two men, 39 and 42, were shot in the leg, and a 22-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the leg, police said.

Another shooting happened in the same area on the Fourth of July last summer. Five people were shot shortly after midnight in the 6500 block of King Drive, in the same apartment complex and just a couple of blocks south of Wednesday’s shooting.

Once the home of former first lady Michelle Obama, “O Block” has become a staple of Chicago drill music and has also counted rappers Chief Keef and King Von as residents. King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, named his debut album “Welcome to O’Block” and was memorialized in a mural near Parkway Gardens after he was fatally shot in Atlanta in 2020.

Gang members named the block for 20-year-old Odee Perry, who was gunned down just around the corner on a summer night in 2011. Police sources said he was killed by a 17-year-old female gang assassin named Gakirah Barnes, who was later killed amid a series of retaliatory shootings in 2014.

Police records show the investigation into Barnes’ death was closed after Cook County prosecutors rejected charges against the prime suspect, Bennett.

Contributing: Frank Main