Friday morning gunshots mark 25th incident in Elgin this year

Elgin logged its 25th incident of gunfire early Friday morning, leading police Chief Ana Lalley to put the shootings in perspective on her weekly radio show as well as urge residents to not accept gunfire in their community.

The Friday incident occurred about 12:22 a.m. on the 900 block of Lavoie Avenue, just east of Liberty Street and south of the Elgin Bypass. There were no injuries or property damage, but police did locate evidence of shots fired.

The incident is characteristic of what Lalley described as a "spike" in gunfire in the city in recent weeks.

Of the 25 incidents, three involved a bullet striking a person - two grazes and one homicide. Four of the incidents have been traced to gang activity.

Lalley said much of the gunfire involves people shooting bullets up into the sky. In addition to educating the public about the dangers of those bullets when they land, the department takes a proactive approach to prevent shootings that are the result of personal or gang conflict.

Residents who are aware of brewing situations that could escalate into gunfire can contact the police, who have specially trained officers and social service providers that can get involved to de-escalate those situations.

"If we know about things ahead of time, we can get involved to take precautionary steps to keep someone from shooting a gun," Lalley said.

Lalley said there is no common denominator for shootings. There were three times as many active gang members in the city 25 years ago compared to now.

"Elgin is a much different city than it was in 1996," Lalley said. "Our overall crime, we're down 9% from last year. But we are seeing spikes in shots-fired incidents just like we did last year. It's a safe community, but we need to continue to be vigilant."

Part of that vigilance is not accepting that gunfire is just part of living in a community as large as Elgin.

"Do not get used to it," Lalley said. "We don't accept that; we don't want that."

The police department has stepped up targeted and extra patrols in the city using patterns it sees in the time of day, day of the week and parts of the city where the shootings have occurred. Lalley encouraged residents to continue to call the police and share information, including video, whenever they hear gunshots.