Gangland – Page 41 – The Pen Hustle With Brandy Cavalli

42 Dead In Chicago In One Weekend Including An 81 Year Old Grandmother

One of the first weekends with nice weather in months brought violence with it as the toll of wounded in Chicago climbed to over 40 people.

Among the 42 people wounded was an 81-year-old grandmother who was at a gathering to mourn the death of her daughter. Surprisingly, only one death figured in among the high number of shootings over this bloody weekend.

The long list of shootings began with a Friday that saw 11 shootings, most in the Englewood and Gresham Districts.

Friday also brought the serious wounding of the 81-year-old woman. Around 5 PM, Iola and Sylvester Burress were standing on a porch in their Auburn Gresham neighborhood when a white SUV drove by with someone inside firing from the sunroof. 81-year-old Iola was struck four times, once in the wrist, twice in the stomach, and in her arm. The elderly woman is listed in critical condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Her great-grandson, Sylvester, was wounded in the hip during the same incident.

“This is what Chicago looks forward to. At a moment when that support was needed, we had that taken away, we had family out in the line of fire,” Ronnie Mosely said of the shooting of his grandmother.

“I’m burying my sister and then I’ve got to look at my mother and son being shot,” added Mary Burress, Ronnie Mosely’s aunt.

By Midnight into Saturday morning the city suffered its first fatal shooting of the weekend with a 24-year-old man shot on the near West Side. He was found unresponsive on a sidewalk having been shot in the chest and shoulder.

Saturday continued its bloody toll with a staggering 20 shootings in neighborhoods such as Garfield Park, Humbolt Park, and Roseland.

Sunday dawned with a few less shootings, but still saw 12 incidents by 9PM that evening.

This weekend’s violence brings the year’s total shootings to 833 shootings, with 120 deaths by gunfire, and a total of 141 homicides in the city.

Because of the high death and violence toll in the Windy City, filmmaker Spike Lee came to Chicago only last week to hold a press conference for his upcoming movie to be titled Chiraq–a take on the fact that Chicago is more dangerous than Iraq. Lee came to Chicago to defend his film title against city officials who claim it will hurt the city.

“We have to stop the madness. This is insane. This is nothing to do about Chicago losing tourism. This is not about Chicago losing business,” Lee said at his press conference.

CBS Chicago

Rapper Bobby Shmurda Involved In A Gang Brawl In Rikers Island Prison

According to Philly.com, young bad boy rapper Bobby Shmurda was involved in some kind of gangland style brawl while incarcerated in Rikers Island prison last month.

Mr. “Hot Boy” has been locked up on New York’s Rikers Island prison since last December on a list of charges including murder, gun and drug possessions, drug dealing and conspiracy.

According to TMZ, prison guards had to break the gang fight up by using a strong “chemical agent” similar to pepper spray.

Earlier this year, “Shmurda” called into New York’s HOT 97 from prison and accused the cops that arrested him of being racists and unfairly targeting him because they (the cops) don’t like their kids listening to his kind of music.

Peep the video.

Join the discussion.

Crime Author Don Winslow Announces Official Book Tour Dates For ‘The Cartel’

Crime lovers (~~and gangsters~~) near and far, it’s almost time! One of THE PEN HUSTLER’s most beloved crime writers is taking his show on the road to promote the highly anticipated book release of THE CARTEL.

The 2015 publication is a follow-up sequel to the novel, The Power of the Dog, a 2005 crime thriller penned by NY Times bestselling author Don Winslow, which centers around the DEA’s involvement with Mexico’s War on Drugs.

THE CARTEL will pick right up where The Power of the Dog left off and chronicle an epic bloody drug war between to mortal enemies which spans over a 45 year time period.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

From the internationally best-selling author of the acclaimed novel The Power of the Dog comes The Cartel, a gripping, true-to-life, ripped-from-the-headlines epic story of power, corruption, revenge, and justice spanning the past decade of the Mexican-American drug wars.

It’s 2004. DEA agent Art Keller has been fighting the war on drugs for thirty years in a blood feud against Adán Barrera, the head of El Federación, the world’s most powerful cartel, and the man who brutally murdered Keller’s partner. Finally putting Barrera away cost Keller dearly—the woman he loves, the beliefs he cherishes, the life he wants to lead.

Then Barrera gets out, determined to rebuild the empire that Keller shattered. Unwilling to live in a world with Barrera in it, Keller goes on a ten-year odyssey to take him down. His obsession with justice—or is it revenge?—becomes a ruthless struggle that stretches from the cities, mountains, and deserts of Mexico to Washington’s corridors of power to the streets of Berlin and Barcelona.
Keller fights his personal battle against the devastated backdrop of Mexico’s drug war, a conflict of unprecedented scale and viciousness, as cartels vie for power and he comes to the final reckoning with Barrera—and himself—that he always knew must happen.

The Cartel is a story of revenge, honor, and sacrifice, as one man tries to face down the devil without losing his soul. It is the story of the war on drugs and the men—and women—who wage it. –Amazon.com

Both novels are in the pre-production phases and are anticipated to be adapted into Hollywood films. Movie production is tentatively set to begin in 2016.

Until then, grab a copy of both books and stop by and meet Don Winslow at one of his meet and greets.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

The book is set to be released on June 23 and will be available for purchase at all online retailers and anywhere books are sold. You can be the first line to get yours by pre-order on Amazon.

As the official publication date approaches, more book tour dates will be added.

If you are in any of these cities, make sure to stop by and “meet the author”. If (and when) the tour ever reaches ATL, we will most certainly be there with bells and whistles on.