Elgin police say Halloween shootings were gang related

A Halloween night shooting in Elgin that killed one teen and injured another was gang related, police said Sunday.

In response to the shootings, residents in the NorthEast Neighborhood Association are holding a meeting with police to discuss the uptick in violence.

A 16-year-old boy was gunned down Friday night following a fight at a Halloween party on the 500 block of Douglas Avenue, marking Elgin's second homicide of 2008, police said. At the same party, a 19-year-old man also was shot in the leg, treated at Sherman Hospital and released, police said.

The boy's name has not been released, but police say he was an Elgin resident.

In a separate incident early on Halloween morning, a 20-year-old woman was shot at least twice - one block away from the police station, on the 200 block of Douglas Avenue - in an incident police say was gang related.

Deputy Chief Cecil Smith said the morning and evening shootings were not connected. As of Sunday night, no arrests had been made in connection with either incident.

Meanwhile, leaders from NENA, the organization that oversees the area in which the shootings occurred, held a private meeting Sunday with David Zierk, the police officer who lives in the neighborhood and monitors its crime.

NENA has scheduled a public meeting for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Salvation Army Golden Diners, 316 Douglas Avenue.

Officers from both the gang and crime free housing units are due to discuss the neighborhood's recent crime wave, what they're doing about it and how residents can help.

Immediately following the shootings, police beefed up their presence in the neighborhood and surrounding areas to snuff out any planned retaliation, police said.

Kerry Kelly, president of NENA - the neighborhood Elgin Mayor Ed Schock calls home - has invited Police Chief Lisa Womack to attend.

"I don't feel unsafe, I can tell you that," said Kelly, whose husband is Elgin City Councilman John Steffen. "The danger is a stray bullet and ... that's hard to protect yourself from."

A fight broke around 11:30 p.m. at a Halloween party in a basement on the 500 block of Douglas Avenue. A short time later, the 16-year-old victim was found a block away -on block dotted with older Victorian homes - and was taken to Sherman Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

As part of the probe, police are interviewing between 75 and 80 people who were at the party, Smith said.

Due to the ongoing police investigation, Kane County Coroner Chuck West would only say the boy died of a single gunshot wound.

He is expected to release the autopsy results Monday.

Authorities have not yet made the teens' names public.

"The investigation's still fresh and we want to follow up any leads we track down right now, until we release any more information," said Sgt. Dennis Hood, a member of the department's gang unit.

To find out more about Thursday's meeting or to ask neighborhood leaders a question, visit nenaofelgin.org.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=247468">16-year-old fatally shot during fight at Elgin party <span class="date">[11/1/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=247252">Elgin woman shot 1 block from police station <span class="date">[10/31/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>