Chicago police released more details early Wednesday on a shooting at a funeral in the city's Gresham neighborhood that left 15 people wounded the night before.
Authorities said the shooting happened just before 6:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of West 79th Street.
It began when someone in a black vehicle opened fire on people attending a funeral on the block, First Deputy Supt. Eric Carter said at a news conference near the scene Tuesday night. People at the funeral in turn fired back and the vehicle crashed midway down the block, he said.
One person of interest was in custody shortly after the incident, police said.
Chicago police said Tuesday that 14 people were shot in the exchange of gunfire, but increased that number to a total of 15 people early Wednesday.
Six victims were taken to three hospitals in serious condition, according to police: a 38-year-old man and 26-year-old woman at the University of Chicago Hospital, a 31-year-old man, a 32-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman at Advocate Christ Medical Center, as well as a 49-year-old woman at Stroger Hospital, officials said.
Nine people were listed in good condition, according to police: A 21-year-old woman at Little Company of Mary, a 24-year-old woman at St. Bernard and a 65-year-old woman who was treated on the scene. Three women, ages 37, 24 and 27, were all listed in good condition at the University of Chicago Hospital, according to police. Three others -- a 30-year-old woman, a 22-year-old man and a 31-year-old man -- were in good condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center, authorities said.
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It was not immediately clear if all of the victims were attending the funeral, and police did not immediately release a motive behind the shooting.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called those responsible for the shooting "cowardly" in a statement on Twitter late Tuesday.
"While families were mourning at a funeral in Auburn Gresham, cowardly gunmen opened fire, wounding 14 in a horrific mass shooting," Lightfoot tweeted, adding that police were canvassing for evidence and outreach teams were deployed to provide trauma and victim support services.
"Far too many have suffered. Far too many have attended funerals and tried to start the process of healing entire communities following another senseless tragedy," she continued. "When a person picks up a gun, we suffer as a city. This cannot be who we are."
"We cannot give shelter to killers. People know who are responsible," Lightfoot said, calling on anyone with information on the shooting to come forward or submit a tip anonymously through the Chicago Police Department's website.
Residents in the area reported hearing gunshots before seeing victims in the street outside of the funeral home.
"All we saw was just bodies laying everywhere," witness Arnita Geder said at the scene. "Shot up everywhere, all over. Legs, stomach, back, all over the place. We thought it was a war out here."
"We saw a car with about six bullet holes in it and it was turned facing the grass like he lost control. We saw a hat down on the ground and evidently it was his," Kenneth Hughes, another witness at the scene, said.
Hughes and Geder added that everyone who was shot appeared to be wearing white.
"Unfortunately it appears like it was planned because as the people were coming out of the funeral home, then the shots rang out like they were literally waiting on them to come out," Hughes said.
Chicago police reported at least 60 shell casings were found at the scene. They urged anyone who knows something or saw something to contact that department.
The incident comes just hours after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot confirmed that federal agents are being sent to the city to curb violence, but the city doesn't "see a Portland-style deployment coming."
Lightfoot said that, as of now, the Trump administration will not be deploying "unnamed agents" to Chicago's streets.
Over the weekend, Chicago saw at least 70 people shot, 11 fatally, across the city.
