William Groves, 48, was charged with 15 counts of attempted murder, 15 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated discharge of a firearm into an occupied building. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
The shooting took place at about 1 a.m. Sunday in a building on the 1200 block of South Pulaski Road. Police said Groves fired into the party of about 100 people shortly after he had been kicked out of the gathering.
Police said Groves fled, but officers quickly arrested him with help from attendees and found a gun in his possession.
Tuesday morning, Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling was joined by Mayor Brandon Johnson, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, Ald. Monique Scott, 24th, and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis in announcing the charges against Groves.
“Though this arrest brings a measure of justice to the 15 victims and all those who witnessed this violence that night, the trauma remains,” Snelling said. “I want to focus — and we need to focus — on the victims and support for them moving forward. Everyone affected by the shooting, and our North Lawndale neighbors, we’re standing with you.”
Though two of the 15 victims were initially listed in critical condition, their conditions have been upgraded and all are expected to survive, Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti said.
Groves’ arrest report, meanwhile, says that he was arrested in possession of a .357 handgun, and the weapon’s serial number was defaced.
“He’s a convicted felon who shouldn’t have had a gun,” Snelling said.
Cook County court records show Groves was charged and later acquitted in a 1995 murder in the Uptown neighborhood. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to attempted murder in connection with a shooting in the Englewood neighborhood, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Records show Groves has also been convicted of several weapons and narcotics offenses since the mid-1990s.
“As a mother, I can’t imagine the horror of that phone call that a child or a loved one has been shot,” Scott told reporters. “The thought of that call, that your community (members) are victims of a mass shooting is beyond comprehensible, and as a human being I truly, deeply feel saddened for the families affected and the trauma that will be left behind. I’m also reminded of the anniversary of a mass shooting in East Garfield (Park) where 14 victims were shot and one was killed. Somehow, this has become a routine. This shouldn’t be normal to any one of us.”