Tag Archive for: chicago
Lightfoot Says Officials ‘Checking Ourselves’ on Parade Safety Protocols After Waukesha Tragedy – NBC Chicago
After a suspect allegedly killed five people and injured 48 others by driving into a crowded parade route in Waukesha, Wisconsin on Sunday evening, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the city is continuing to evaluate its practices to ensure that event attendees remain safe as they celebrate.
During a press availability Monday, Lightfoot called Sunday’s incident in Wisconsin “heartbreaking,” and said that it has led city officials to rigorously examine their own security protocols for parades and festivals.
“Whenever something like this happens across the country, as a mayor you think ‘are we protected? Are we safe? And we’ve had that discussion,” she said. “Every time we have a large-scale event, whether it’s downtown or in a neighborhood, we block off the roads physically, whether it’s with squad cars, infrastructure equipment, (etc.). It leads to a lot of traffic issues, but we lock it down because we want to make sure that people can enjoy themselves and do so safely.”
The city just held its annual holiday kick-off events at Millennium Park and along the Magnificent Mile, and will hold its annual Thanksgiving parade on Thursday in downtown.
Lightfoot says that the city deliberately blocks access points to parade routes in an effort to make it “very hard” to get vehicles anywhere near marchers and celebrants, and that they do so “intentionally.”
A Wisconsin man was arrested and accused of driving a red SUV into a crowd at a Waukesha Christmas parade, officials said on Monday
Even still, she says that in the aftermath of the Waukesha tragedy, she has ordered public safety officials and her staff to look into further ways to keep parade routes and festivals safe.
“We always have to check ourselves, and make sure that we’re doing everything we can, even when you’ve got somebody clearly determined to do harm, that we will literally block their ability to do that,” she said. “I think we’ve got a good plan in place, but we’ll never rest and we’re always going to be checking our safety protocols, particularly when some kind of tragedy like this happens.”
The suspect in the case, 39-year-old Darrell…
Teen Girl, Security Guard Shot Outside of Bronzeville High School, Chicago Fire Officials Say – NBC Chicago
A student and a security guard were seriously wounded in a shooting Tuesday afternoon outside a high school in the Bronzeville neighborhood.
The 14-year-old girl and the 46-year-old guard were shot around 3:20 p.m. outside Wendell Phillips Academy High School, 244 E. Pershing Road, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
The child was shot three times in the abdomen and taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, according to Chicago police spokesman Michelle Tannehill. She was listed in good condition.
The guard, shot in the arm, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, she said. Langford said he was listed in serious condition.
In September, two 15-year-old students from Simeon Career Academy were shot and killed on the same day in separate attacks.
“It’s ridiculous, you know the kids have to go to school, it’s just very unsafe now because we don’t know if the kids are gonna be safe going to school or picking up after school,” said an employee of Chicago’s Home of Chicken and Waffles restaurant, around the corner from Phillips.
The employee, who did not want to be named, said they heard about four or five shots, then saw police cars flood the area.
“I just wish our city would be safer, I just wish it was more safety,” she said. “Our kids have to grow up here, our kids have to go to school here, we have a restaurant to run here. I just pray for our safety.”
Suburban Chicago Family Struggles To Bring Family Home From Afghanistan – NBC Chicago
A suburban Chicago family is trying to get their young family members home from Afghanistan but face confusion over logistics.
Only giving us his first name, Masud has been watching the unnerving situation in Kabul from his Lincolnwood home, wondering if his family will ever catch a flight out.
“There is no security in place for everyone’s safety, let alone Americans’ safety,” said Masud.
His wife’s youngest siblings, ranging in age from 8 months to 10 years old, traveled to Kabul a month ago to visit other family members.
Masud says they were supposed to catch a flight back home to the United States this week, but the flight was canceled.
Now, the children are in hiding with family members awaiting word from the U.S. government on what to do next.
“How will they be able to get on a U.S. military flight?” said Masud. “Even if they’re told to go to the airport, how do [they] get to the front gate?”
Masud said it’s too dangerous for the children to travel to Kabul Airport, even as thousands of American troops restored order to the airport on Tuesday.
“No one is able to predict the next minute,” said Masud. “Random criminals can kidnap them.”
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it was in talks with the Taliban, who’ve fully taken over Afghanistan in a matter of days.
Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Adviser, said the Taliban have informed the U.S. that they are prepared to provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport.
“We intend to hold them to that commitment,” said Sullivan.
RefugeeOne of Chicago is already assisting two Afghan families that will be relocating to the Chicago area in the coming weeks, according to Jims Porter, a spokesperson for the state’s largest resettlement organization.
“Last week, we were told there were about 18,000 Special Immigrant Visa holders from Afghanistan that were going to be relocated to Fort Lee, Virginia,” said Porter.
Of those thousands of refugees, Porter says RefugeeOne Chicago can welcome up to 500 refugees per year. He says they are “nowhere near” that number this year.
Meanwhile, it’s estimated that about 11,000 Americans could be waiting to evacuate Afghanistan. As of Tuesday, evacuations…