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<\/p>\nShe came to Chicago last week to attend a school choir conference and enjoy some pizza with her 11-year-old son, but as the Connecticut woman headed to the airport Monday she was bringing home some harrowing memories.
\nThe night before, the 46-year-old woman was shot while walking with her son across the street from AMC River East 21 in Streeterville, a movie theater with a history of violence and loitering that has prompted calls for better public safety.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been shocking,\u201d the woman told the Sun-Times in a brief interview as she headed to the airport Monday morning.
\n\u201cI\u2019m nervous. I\u2019ve been telling myself the same story over and over,\u201d said the woman, who asked not to be named.
\nSecond Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins said the shooting was \u201cfurther proof\u201d of the need for an 8 p.m. curfew for minors downtown.<\/p>\n
The shooting happened as the woman and her son finished a pizza dinner and were walking back to their hotel about 8:10 p.m. Sunday, according to a police report.
\nAs they waited for a light to change at Illinois Street and Columbus Drive, she \u201cheard two gunshots and saw feathers flying around from her coat,\u201d the police report said. She had been shot in her right forearm.
\nThe woman and her son ran south across the river to Wacker and Columbus drives, where they asked a passerby for help. That person and her son called 911, and she was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition, police said.
\nShe told the Sun-Times she arrived in Chicago with her son last Wednesday for a school choir conference.<\/p>\n
The street in front of AMC River East 21 movie theater at 322 E. Illinois St in Streeterville, Monday, March 10, 2025. A woman visiting from Connecticut was shot while walking with her 11-year-old son Sunday night across the street from AMC River East 21.
\nAnthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n
Deborah Gershbein, president of the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents, said the AMC theater has a history of loitering. She had coordinated with the Chicago Police Department about addressing the problem of children hanging out near the theater.
\n\u201cJust when we think we have it under control with the help of 18th District officers, this happens,\u201d Gershbein said. \u201cWe have kids \u2014 juveniles \u2014 hanging out there and causing problems. This has been going on for some time.\u201d
\nLast June, the Sun-Times reported that the theater implemented a required guardian policy for any theatergoer under age 18.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
AMC River East 21 movie theater at 322 E. Illinois St in Streeterville, Monday, March 10, 2025. A woman visiting from Connecticut was shot while walking with her 11-year-old son Sunday night across the street from AMC River East 21.
\nAnthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n
Hopkins had called for an 8 p.m. curfew for minors downtown after a couple was attacked by a group of juveniles near Grand Avenue and McClurg Court, around the corner from the theater. Police made a show of force the following week, parking several squad cars outside the theater. Introduction to the Incident She came to Chicago last week to attend a school choir conference and enjoy some pizza with her 11-year-old son, but as the Connecticut woman headed to the airport Monday she was bringing home some harrowing memories. The night before, the 46-year-old woman was shot while walking with her son across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-reports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/d4b085f\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6122x3495+0+294\/resize\/1461x834!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F22%2Fa9%2Fe89a2c9847f38891b4f124fdf871%2Ftouristshot-031025-06.JPG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16051"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16053,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16051\/revisions\/16053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe City Council member repeated that call on Monday.
\n\u201cIt was in an area that was monitored by a strong police presence,\u201d Hopkins said. \u201cThere were 50 teenagers running around causing trouble. They had gotten kicked out of the AMC lobby earlier. So, we knew they were there. We were monitoring them. Yet, this still happened. A fight broke out. One of \u2018em took a gun out of his backpack and fired shots.\u201d
\nHopkins said the situation requires \u201ca much more serious response\u201d than Mayor Brandon Johnson has been \u201cwilling to give it so far\u201d in dealing with young people gathering downtown.
\n\u201cWhen these teen flash mobs form, the situation can turn in an instant \u2014 and that\u2019s what happened here,\u201d Hopkins said. \u201cWe need to be able to enforce that curfew. That means taking them into custody and holding them until they\u2019re released to a responsible adult.\u201d
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