Chicago City Wire

Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), called for the Chicago Police Superintendent to resign in the wake of a mass shooting that left 14 people wounded, including 3 children.

"Major Mass shooting near California and Polk with 14 so far confirmed shot including kids ages 3, 11 and 13. This is Chicago’s nation leading 47th mass shootings (4th more shot at one time). Lightfoot & Brown have no answer, no strategy. Time for Brown to resign,” tweeted Vallas.

Around 9 p.m. on Oct. 31, East Garfield Park community members were gathered outside for a vigil, releasing balloons, when a car drove by and someone opened fire on the crowd, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The attack left 14 people wounded, including three children. Victims aged 3, 11, and 13 were in critical condition. The 11 other victims were between the ages of 31 and 56. 

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said he believed there were two shooters, but they had not yet determined a motive. “We always worry about retaliation obviously, but we don’t know enough about this, whether it involved a gang conflict or some personal conflict yet, but as soon as we know we’ll share that with the public,” Brown said. “And obviously we’re deploying extra police resources in the area to make sure that we can prevent any retaliation if that’s something that’s real.”

The mass shooting was among the worst that Chicago has seen in recent years. In March 2021, a mass shooting in Greater Grand Crossing left 15 people wounded, including 2 who were killed. In July 2020, 15 people were shot outside of a funeral home in Gresham.

Although Mayor Lori Lightfoot laid out a new plan earlier this year to address the city's gang problem by going after gangs' profits, progressive aldermen and civil rights groups expressed doubt that the plan would curb violence, WTTW reported.

Vallas was executive director of the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission for ten years before being appointed CEO of Chicago Public Schools in 1995, according to Ballotpedia. He held that role until 2001, after which he served as superintendent of school districts in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Connecticut. He then returned to Chicago in 2014 and worked as chief administrative officer at Chicago State University. He ran for mayor in 2019.