No Parking Zones

As I was photographing this summer, I began to notice that many of the locations where people were killed in vehicles were in no parking zones, either in front of fire hydrants or in the yellow curbed areas at the end of most blocks in Chicago. All of them were killed while sitting idly in their vehicles. Most were accompanied by other people. After taking a closer look at these statistics, I found that 18 people were killed in vehicles this summer. Of those 18, 3 were shot and killed while driving and 6 were parked in front of their own homes. Of the remaining 8, 6 of them were sitting in a car in an illegal parking zone. The conclusion I came to is that those victims were waiting for something or someone and pulled into the empty spot on the street in the meantime. That would explain why so many were not only parked illegally, but also sitting in their cars. I don't really know what this information means, but I do thinkn it is an interesting statistic to add to the discoveries I made this while photographing this project.

To see the locations of those killed in no parking zones, click on the "No Parking" label on the side bar.

David Johnson, 31

On August 29th, David Johnson was found dead sitting in a vehicle with a gunshot wound to his head. The slaying happened shortly after 7 p.m. at 1542 West 51st Street in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood. David was parked in a vehicle when someone approached, pulled out a gun and shot him. He was pronounced dead at 7:37 p.m. at Stroger Hospital.

Photographing at the site

Ronnie Peterson, 23

Ronnie Peterson was found shot in the head in his car in the late afternoon on Sunday August 22nd at 5094 West Monroe Street in the Austin neighborhood. Reports say that someone inside a vehicle that pulled up next to his car fired several shots at him. He was pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital at 5:55 p.m the next day.

Photographing at the site

Alexander Mercado, 16

Alexander Mercado, another man, and a woman were all sitting in a parked car at 4130 North Albany Avenue in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood at about 1:45 a.m. when someone walked up and started a conversation with them. Soon after the suspect opened fire into the car. The woman switched places with one of the gunshot victims and drove to the 4000 block of North Whipple Street, where she called police. Alexander was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at 2:33 a.m.

Photographing at the site

James Gardner, 30

James Gardner, who was shot in the early morning of August 9th in the city's Austin neighborhood on the West Side, died at 6:21 p.m. the same day at Stroger Hospital. He and another man were shot about 12:22 a.m. at 522 North Leamington Avenue. The two were inside a vehicle when two or possibly three suspects got out of another vehicle and approached the men. At least one of the suspects fired several shots in their direction. The victims tried to drive away after they were shot but their car crashed into a parked car. The suspects then fled.

Photographing at the site

Emmanuel Leeks, 23

At about 12:45 a.m. on Saturday July 17th, Emmanuel Leeks and a 20-year-old woman were sitting in a vehicle at 2126 North Springfield Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood when someone fired several times into the car, striking him in the abdomen. The woman suffered a superficial wound. Emmanuel was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 4:11 p.m.

Photographing at the site

Andrew Hartrick, 37

At about 1 a.m. on July 5th, police responded 1657 West 64th Street in Englewood and found two men shot. Both men were in a vehicle when someone began firing in their direction. Andrew was struck in the neck and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Photographing at the site