Formerly one of the safest neighborhoods in Chicago, the lakefront area near Chicago’s Lincoln Park and its famous zoo has now become another shooting gallery. CWB Chicago reports:

A mass shooting left five people injured, four critically, near Lincoln Park Zoo overnight, according to initial information from the scene.

The shooting occurred in the 1900 block of North Stockton occurred around 4:40 a.m. [early Saturday morning]

“A group of people were gathered outside … when a verbal altercation ensued,” Chicago police said in a media statement. “Unknown offender(s) then opened fired [sic], striking five victims. No one is in custody and Area Three Detectives are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident.” (snip)

A baseball hat, plastic cups, and a liquor bottle dotted a jogging path as Chicago cops draped yellow tape around the area.

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Once upon a time, before more than 3,300 officers left the Chicago PD following the George Floyd riots and only 1600 or so joined the force as replacements, this area was very well-patrolled. People come from all over the city and well beyond (including not a few tourists) to enjoy the park and zoo and the spectacular lakefront. But with fewer officers available, and the CPD forced to assign available officers to the most violent neighborhoods, the area gets much less attention. And the result is inevitable:

Two shooting incidents have been reported in Lincoln Park this year, with a total of six victims.

The neighborhood had four shooting victims in four incidents for all of last year.

There were three victims in three incidents at this point in 2021 and one victim as of June 17, 2020.

In 2019, the neighborhood recorded six victims in two shooting incidents as of June 17. But a mass shooting left seven people injured on the lakefront at Fullerton in July of that year.

There has been a Saturday farmer’s market where the current shooting took place, but it had to be called off because police vehicles were occupying the space where farmers normally would park.

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Another urban amenity disappears, for at least one week, as a city descending into chaos loses the ability to enforce civil order in even  the best areas of town.

Update: It is confirmed that no beat car was patroling the area during the time of the shooting.

Hat tip: Peter von Buol