2 killed, 7 wounded in shootings tied to large, social-media fueled Austin party
A raucous weekend party that drew hundreds to the West Side culminated in a series of shootings that left seven people wounded and two others dead.
The party, organized on social media and dubbed "Club JROY," stretched over several blocks in Austin, where revelers drank, smoked and danced atop cars before gunfire sent them running for cover early Sunday.
Six people were hit in the 100 block of North La Crosse Avenue, including a 22-year-old woman who was shot repeatedly in her back around 2:50 a.m. She was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital and pronounced dead, authorities said.
Almost two hours later, the party was apparently still going. According to a police report, Kaleb Williams and his friend, both 18, hopped out of a rideshare less than half a mile from the scene of the shooting, hoping to avoid the partygoers who were lining the streets on their way to the gathering.
A car approached them, and an argument escalated into a fight in the 5000 block of West Maypole Avenue, police said. Two gunmen then started shooting, hitting Williams twice in his back and his friend in his arm. Williams died at Mount Sinai. His friend was stabilized at Stroger Hospital.
Nikita Campbell, Williams' mom, said she got the "gut-wrenching" news in the middle of the night that her first-born son had been killed.
"I lost my baby," Campbell said in the family's University Park home. "He was my everything, and I was really devastated that he's no longer here with us."
Williams was a semester away from graduating from Crete-Monee High School, where he'd won two high school football championships, his family said. He wanted to join the armed forces because he gravitated toward the discipline that comes with military service.
But he also had creative pursuits. He recorded his own raps in a closet with a pair of video game headphones and a beat from YouTube, family said.
"He was always sure of himself, very assertive," Nikita Campbell said. "He wasn't afraid to take a chance and try to step out and go after what he wanted."
The mother of the second victim said the teens had been best friends since they were 10.
"They are really good boys, never in trouble," said the mom, who didn't want to be named.
She said the gunmen had tried to rob them before opening fire. A person of interest has since been arrested, police said Monday afternoon.
‘We’re a peaceful block’
The first shooting linked to the party left a 20-year-old wounded around 1:40 a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of North Lamon Avenue. She was standing with friends when someone from a “large gathering of about a thousand people” fired shots, hitting her in her arm, according to a police report.
Ald. Jason Ervin, whose 28th Ward includes the block where the party happened, said the community was “shattered by an unacceptable level of violence” in the attacks. He also called for accountability for "social media influencers and the platforms that host them to bear responsibility on keeping people safe."
"Any venue in Chicago that hosted an event like this would have been required to have security, insurance and a plan to manage an influx of people this large," Ervin said in a statement Monday afternoon. The party's location was a last-minute change, he added.
Cynthia has lived near the corner of West End and LaCrosse avenues for 26 years. She said she saw the large gathering grow late Saturday night into Sunday, but she didn't hear any gunshots. She was outside her home Monday cleaning up broken glass left behind by partygoers.
"No one expects to see 10,000 kids out their front door," said Cynthia, who wouldn't share her full name. "I hope it doesn't happen again. We're a peaceful block. I'm raising my grandkids here."