Two people were killed and eight were left wounded in a Sunday shooting in Chicago that police believe to be the result of a gang-retaliation hit that targeted the memorial for another man who had been killed earlier in the day.
According to USA Today, the victims were at an outdoor memorial service Sunday evening around 5:15 p.m. for 26-year-old Daniel Cardova, who has been fatally gunned down in the city’s Brighton Park neighborhood a mere 13 hours earlier.
It was then that more gunfire broke out.
“During this memorial, two subjects came out of an alley east of the location ... and opened fire with rifles,” First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro told USa Today. Navarro called the shooting at the memorial “another brazen act of gang violence on Chicago’s streets.”
The gunmen were reportedly wearing masks and opened fire on the group standing near an improvised memorial that had been erected in honor of Cardova. The suspects then fled the scene in either a light-colored van or SUV.
There are currently no suspects in custody for the shooting, which left a man and a woman dead; however, officers did flood the the neighborhood Sunday evening in search of the gunmen and also in hopes of preventing yet another retaliatory incident.
“We have a fairly good idea who we’re looking for,” Deputy Chief Kevin Ryan said following the incident. “We have a fairly good idea of the conflict involved and where we need to be deployed.”
Cardova, 26, was found shot dead on the street after officers responded to calls of shots fired at around 4:40 a.m. Sunday. Police described Cardova as a “documented gang member,” according to USA Today. No one is in custody for his killing, but in both shootings, police suspect gang members using high-powered rifles.
Alderman Raymond Lopez, a City Council member who represents the area where Sunday’s two shootings occurred, slammed the violence as “nonsense” and encouraged residents to help authorities combat gang violence.
“The wake-up call has been here,” Lopez said. “It’s time for us to act. It is time for each and every one of us to start looking at what’s going on on our blocks, to identify who is the gang member, who are the drug dealers, and who is supporting them in our communities.”
Read more at USA Today.