Crowd Demands Offender for Lynching

Tribune reporters Rachael Levy and Peter Nickeas cover this one in depth - we have no idea how they were allowed to do so. But then we realized it was the weekend and the editors were probably asleep at home:

• The shooting of a 34-year-old man Friday night pulled a crowd of angry people onto a chilly South Side street where they loudly called for retribution against the man suspected of the killing.
  
  About 100 residents of the apartment complex where Kevin Sanders was killed circled the front door of a building where the alleged shooter had holed up. The suspect, who police said had been shot in apparent retaliation, had gone there after the shooting. It's not clear what set off the violence.

So, one person dead, his body hauled off, because you know leaving it on scene causes the crowd to get bigger and no end to headaches. In this case though, someone also shot the shooter who took shelter in the building.

• Nearby, a folded walker sat next to a car belonging to the wounded suspect's girlfriend; its front and back windshields had been smashed out by someone using the walker as a cudgel, police said.
  
  Groups of bystanders tucked their hands in pockets and raised their hoodies to avoid the overnight chill, joining the group that had been yelling for the man inside.
  
  As the residents stood on a sidewalk behind a fence separating them from the grass apron around the apartment, an ambulance backed up to the front door.

Now a CFD ambulance has to back up to the building so the wounded shooter can be moved with minimal problem, and the hootin' and hollerin' begin.

• "I should have killed your (expletive) last year!" one man shouted from behind the fence, moments before police, who had formed a wall blocking a view of the suspect, hustled the wounded man out and into in an ambulance which quickly sped away with a police car leading and following. The suspect was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital.
  
  At the brief sight of the man being led out, some raised their phones, in hopes of capturing a photograph of the scene. Others raised their voices, shouting violent threats against the suspect.
  
  One woman shouted that the crowd should tip the ambulance: "Turn that (expletive) over!"

Unreported, probably because the reporters were kept far enough away, was that the ambulance was actually trapped for a time before police cleared an avenue for it to depart, and ended up escorting it to the hospital to make sure they made it. While we doubt the ambulance was in any danger of actually being tipped over, we're sure it would have suffered the fate of the innocent vehicle with all the windows busted out in short order without a heavy police presence.

• Most expressed disapproval of Sanders' death and said he was loved throughout the neighborhood.
  
  "Make your point, shoot him in the leg, shoot him in the arm, but to kill him?" asked Cassandra Smith, who lives across the street.
  
  "Bring that (expletive) out," another person shouted while complaining that the man they believed responsible for killing Sanders was getting police protection.

Interesting. Ms. Smith accepts the idea of handing out a violation at gunpoint via and arm or leg shot, but not killing the original victim. Another unnamed person believes that police ought to turn the shooter over to the 'hood for justice. These people (or folks) weren't about to let the ambulance drive away with what they viewed as their prey. They wanted the shooter delivered into their hands for street justice - a lynching, plain and simple. Dr. King must be spinning in his grave.

We can name dozens of incidents of this nature - so can most of our readers. This isn't a rare occurrence, but the amount and detail of the coverage is.We're surprised it ever saw print.