Chicago's crime spiral continues as 15 are shot - 6 fatally - over weekend, days after Mayor Lori Lightfoot claimed 99% of criticism targeting her was racist and sexist

Chicago's July 4 weekend saw the city's serious crime rate continue to spiral, with six people shot and killed and another nine struck by bullets and wounded in less than 72 hours. 

The deadly violence began early Friday evening at around 6:30pm , when 20-year-old Jeremiah Fangster was fatally shot and his unidentified pal, also 20, shot in the leg and wounded after a gunman walked up and opened fire on their car while they waited at a red light at the 3900-block of West 16th Street.

Fangster, who was driving, accelerated away quickly. He crashed into a nearby building, with his car striking a 65 year-old man, who was injured as a result. 

Fangster's killer remains on the loose, with no arrests made as of Sunday. Cops have yet to share a motive for the killing. 

An hour later, a 55-year-old woman was hit by gunfire just after 7pm while driving south on I-94 in the Fuller Park neighborhood, according to Illinois State Police.

A 55-year-old woman was hit by gunfire just after 7pm while driving south on I-94 in the Fuller Park neighborhood, according to Illinois State Police. The scene is pictured 

That shooting caused all southbound lanes on I-94 to be shut down at 26th Street until about 10:15pm

The woman was shot in the chest and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition but ultimately survived, fire officials told ABC 7.

That shooting caused all southbound lanes on I-94 to be shut down at 26th Street until about 10:15pm, the news outlet reported.

Not even an hour later, a 62-year-old man was shot at 7:40 pm in the 200-block of East 47th Street after a gunman hopped out of a Jeep Laredo and opened fire at a crowd he was in. That victim only received minor injuries after being transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the leg.

Later Friday night, a 40-year-old man was shot and killed at 11:20pm after an argument ensued with a neighbor over loud music coming from his apartment, before the neighbor shot the man several times in the torso.

The shooter in that case immediately fled the scene and has still yet to be apprehended, according to authorities.

There was yet more violence before daybreak Saturday, with a 39-year-old man being shot in the leg at 1:15am while driving through the Park Manor neighborhood in the 6600 block of South King Drive. Police say a gunman in a passing black SUV fired shots.

Officials also discovered a 19-year-old man who had been shot to death at around 1:25am in Belmont Cragin on the city's Northwest Side. 

The teen was rushed to Illinois Masonic Medical Center with gunshot wounds to the back and abdomen, but was pronounced dead on arrival. Police say there were no witnesses in that shooting, and authorities have yet to release the dead victim's name.  

Then at 3:25am, a 26-year-old man was shot by a passing vehicle while outside in the 9700 block of South Oglesby Avenue in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood. The victim sustained gunshot wounds to both legs before being taken to nearby Advocate Trinity Hospital in stable condition, police said. 

In response to questions regarding criticism over her job controlling the city's rising crime, Mayor Lori Lightfoot dismissed ‘99 percent of it’ as racist and sexist

Police said the next fatal shooting occurred shortly before 4:45am on Saturday, when a 39-year-old man was shot in the head while traveling in the back seat of a vehicle in the 4400 block of West Cermak Road in the Lawndale neighborhood.

A 17-year-old boy who was a passenger in a car traveling along the 300 block of South Western Avenue in the Near West Side neighborhood was shot in the thigh at 5:30pm.

The teen told police that he had heard gunshots before feeling a sharp pain in his leg before being transported to Stroger Hospital in stable condition. 

At 5:50pm, 41-year-old man was shot in the leg while he was driving in the Washington Heights neighborhood after someone shot at his car from the sidewalk. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in good condition, according to authorities.

By 7pm Saturday evening, cops received a call reporting a car driving slowly and hitting the curb in the 4200 block of South Cicero Avenue in Little Village on the Southwest Side.

Witnesses told police that the car had been shot at from a passing black Audi SUV, which left a 20-year-old man dead and two others, ages 32 and 37, wounded. He too has yet to be publicly identified.

At 8:30pm, a 28-year old man, who cops have identified as Theardis Boss, was shot in the head in a backyard in the Roseland neighborhood. He was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he was pronounced dead. No arrests have been made in that case, either.

An hour later, a 34-year-old man was shot in the 1000 block of North Lawndale Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood just before 9:30pm. He was shot in the leg after a gunman in a dark-colored sedan traveling south opened fire in his direction. 

The Windy City's latest eruption of violence came days after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot dismissed almost everyone who criticized her as racist or sexist.

‘In recent months, there have been questions raised about your temperament and your reaction to criticism – a Tribune editorial used the term irascible – how much of this do you think might have to do with the fact that you’re a woman and specifically a black woman?’ asked Phil Ponce of WTTW.

In response, Lightfoot said, ‘99 percent of it.’ 

Asked to elaborate, Lightfoot said, ‘Look at my predecessors. Did people say that Rich Daly held tea sessions with people that he didn’t disagree on? Ron Emmanuel was a polite guy who was a uniter? No. Woman and people of color are always held to a different standard. I understand that. I’ve known that my whole life.' 

The mayor's comments came in an interview with WTTW, a local PBS station, when she was discussing the city's recent spike in violence as well as critiques of her approach to handling it

'And the Tribune or whoever could write what they want. What I’m doing is fighting for the residents of this city. I’m an advocate. I’m going to continue fighting. Obviously we need to be focused on uniting people as much as we can, but I was elected and ran on disrupting the status quo. And when you disrupt the status quo, you are gonna make people uncomfortable. You’re are gonna have people criticizing you.’

Her comments came in an interview with WTTW, a local PBS station, when she was discussing the city's recent spike in violence as well as critiques of her approach to handling it. 

Chicago's latest crime statistics show the city of 2.7 million people saw 78 murders in June.  

That is a 20 per cent drop in the 98 murders it witnesses for June 2020. More than 300 people have been murdered in the Windy City this year, although as of July 1, there have been six fewer murders this year than there were for the same period of 2020.