RAPPER ‘DOOSKI THA MAN’ WELL REMEMBERED

'High Probability' Chicago Mass Shootings are Related

By William Lee

Chicago Tribune
October 26, 2018

CHICAGO — A shooting that wounded five men in the Washington Park neighborhood Wednesday night may have been in retaliation for an ambush outside the funeral for a local rapper that injured six people earlier in the week, according to Chicago police.

“It’s a high probability that the shootings were connected,” said Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the police department.

In Wednesday’s shooting, five men between the ages of 22 and 49 were shot just before 9 p.m. outside a home in the 6200 block of South King Drive, police said.

They were standing on the sidewalk when several people walked up and opened fire minutes, police said. The gunmen fled in a white sedan, police said. None of the wounds were considered life-threatening.

Detectives are looking into a possible connection to a mass shooting Monday afternoon outside the Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church at 9231 S. Cottage Grove Ave. As people were leaving the church, six people were wounded by at least two gunmen, a police spokesman said. As many as five mourners drew their own weapons and returned fire during the broad daylight attack.

The funeral was for rapper Vantrease “Dooski Tha Man” Criss, killed earlier this month in a drive-by shooting about a mile from Wednesday’s shooting. The shootout occurred on a main business drag in the Burnside neighborhood.

Among the wounded was another rapper, Marvel “FBG Wooski” Williams, 21, who was struck in the head. His condition was upgraded from critical to serious condition on Tuesday.

Police don’t know who the intended target was because several victims have refused to cooperate.

Investigators believe this week’s shootings stem from a yearslong conflict between warring factions of the Gangster Disciples and Black Disciples. Violent skirmishes between the two are often discussed in-depth in “diss” raps on social media.

On Thursday, top police officials with the Central and South detective areas met with department crime analysts to review the roots of the bitter gang conflict in an attempt to head off any further retaliatory shootings.

“We’re doing everything we can to get ahead of the shootings,” Guglielmi said.

No arrests have been made in either shooting.