(Image source from: Chicago Tribune)
The funeral for Vantrease "Dooski Tha Man" Criss, a local rapper who was gunned down last month in an apparent drive-by turned to be terrifying.
People were leaving Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church and entering their cars when two bursts of gunshots erupted, at least 30 shots sprayed across the street in the 9200 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue around 12.20 p.m. Monday, according to police and witnesses.
"There were bullets flying everyplace down there," said Bernie Jordan, 60, who had just gotten off a bus. "It scared me, man."
The police force and paramedics appeared at a chaotic incident, with shell casings strewn over two blocks.
At least six people had been shot, one of them in critical condition with a gunfire wound to the head.
The others included a 25-year-old man shot in the arm, a 27-year-old woman shot in the leg and lower body and a 23-year-old man shot in the leg.
Jordan, 60, said he was on his way home from visiting his sister Monday morning and had just gotten off the bus between Cottage Grove Avenue and 92nd Street. He saw a man jump out of a black car holding a large gun with a "long, tall straight clip" attached. Two "boys with big-a - guns started shooting."
Jordan said he heard two rounds of shots, one with about 15 shots, the other 30. He took off running and ducked behind a building, taking a long detour to get to his home a block away.
"This used to be a nice neighborhood," said Jordan, who has lived in the Burnside neighborhood for 30 years. "But now, shoot, they're into a war over here."
Earlier this September, a gunman fired near the church while it celebrated its 25th anniversary.
The church is several blocks from Chatham Academy High School, where earlier this month three teens were shot outside of the school.
The shooting on Monday took place after the funeral for Criss, who was shot to death October 9 in the Washington Park neighborhood, according to Chicago police. A witness told police that the shots may have come from a passing car.
-Sowmya Sangam
