Bryon Champ, Kewane Gatewood Charged In Connection With Chicago Mass Shooting

2 Men Charged In Chicago Mass Shooting

Bryon Champ, 21, and Kewane Gatewood, 20, have been charged in connection with the Chicago mass shooting on Sept. 19.

Thirteen people were wounded in the attack at a basketball court in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood.

The men have each been charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, ABC Chicago reports. They are due in bond court Tuesday morning.

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said that while the two played significant roles in the shooting, neither is believed to have pulled the trigger.

McCarthy said detectives are continuing the investigation.

Authorities say as many as three people opened fire Thursday on a basketball court in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Among those injured were 3-year-old Deonta Howard, who is recovering from surgery after being shot near an ear, along with two teenagers.

Earlier Monday, police had said they were interviewing "several people of interest" in connection with the shooting and McCarthy sounded confident about case during a graduation ceremony for new officers.

"We are making great strides," McCarthy said then. "There's no doubt in my mind we're going to close this case quickly."

The shooting returned Chicago's gun violence problem to the nation's consciousness.

The assailants fired more than a dozen rounds from an assault-style rifle, police have said. They believe the shooting was gang-related, as several gang members were injured, although it's not yet clear who the intended target was.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel rode along with police officers late Sunday in particularly violent city neighborhoods.

Emanuel has made curbing violence a high priority, allowing the police department to spend millions of dollars in overtime to saturate high-crime areas with hundreds of additional officers.

Through Sept. 15, police say they've recorded 306 murders and 1,402 shooting incidents this year. That's down 20 and 22 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2012. Police say overall violent crime is down about 15 percent, according to new figures released Monday.

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