13 wounded, including 3-year-old boy, in shooting at Chicago park

13 wounded, including 3-year-old boy, in shooting at Chicago park The shooting comes nearly three weeks after Chicago saw an outburst of violence over the Labor Day weekend that ended with eight dead and 20 others injured. Chicago's police superintendent has said that overall violence is down so far this year compared to 2012, when the number of homicides topped 500 for the first time since 2008.

Following a surge in homicides and shootings last year, the police department stepped up its crime-fighting efforts by, among other things, paying overtime to add patrols to some neighborhoods, including the Back of the Yards.

Through the first six months of the year, the department spent more than $57 million on overtime pay for officers, more than half of it from a program that saturates dangerous neighborhoods with hundreds of officers every night.

Police believe the shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute between the Black P. Stones and Gangster Disciples. It was not known if any of the victims were the intended targets, authorities said. “There were members of gangs on the scene and there were gang members among the victims,” McCarthy said. Authorities do not have anyone in custody and are currently reviewing police cameras mounted nearby.

There could be as many as three offenders, officials said. The park is in a heavily gang-infested area, but it is not in a so-called impact zone flooded by officers to deter crime, McCarthy said. The nearest zones are three blocks to the north and three blocks to the south, leaving the Cornell Square as a no man’s land protected only by occasional patrols and an 11 p.m. curfew.

Read more:http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-20/news/chi-multiple-people-including-3yearold-shot-in-south-side-attack-20130919_1_gang-attacks-illegal-guns-police-cameras