Yet another wave of shootings swept across Chicago on Thursday night and Friday morning, leaving seven people dead and 15 wounded.
The carnage pushed the city’s murder toll to 97 so far this year, up from 81 by this date last year.
This latest round of bloodshed was not as extensive as that two weeks ago, when 41 people were shot and four killed.
But try telling that to Regina Walker, whose brother Roger Walker was the final murder victim in the 12-hour killing spree.
Victim Roger Walker with his son, Izaiah.
This is how she remembers her brother: a giddy new father, a patient brother, a young man who found all kinds of ways to channel his creative gifts.
‘He had so many talents, he didn’t know what to do with them,’ Walker said. ‘He drew my first tattoo for me. He was a great artist.’
She said she didn’t know why anyone would want to kill her brother, who lived in Blue Island. He’d grown up around gangs but wasn’t in one, she insisted.
Police found Walker in response to a report of shots fired about 3:10 a.m. Friday in the Morgan Park neighborhood. He was shot in the chest and abdomen, police said. He was pronounced dead where he lay.
