Chicago seniors feel unsafe after bullets come through building windows

CHICAGO (CBS) — Seniors said they feel like they're under siege after four shootings at the Bronzeville building they call home since August, leaving windows shattered and in a CBS News Chicago exclusive story, residents share their concerns and what's being done to help them feel safe.

"I was laying on my couch asleep, and all of a sudden, a bullet came through my window."

Thelma Gates shows where the bullet ended up: inside a flower pot that was right next to her couch, where she had been sleeping, in her fifth-floor apartment.

"When I got up, really got up, for the day, I raised my curtain, and that's when I saw the bullet hole...In the window...I was scared to death. I didn't know what to think, Gates said. "I thank God every day that I didn't get hit because if I had been sitting up, I'd probably have gotten hit on the side of my head."

A bullet coming through Gate's apartment window is one of four incidents in the past month that have taken place here at TRC Senior Village in Bronzeville. A bullet shattered the window of the plant room. Red tape covers a bullet hole in the window of the boiler room.

Another resident, living on the fourth floor, heard a loud sound during the night. She discovered a bullet hole in her window in the morning.

Data analyzed by CBS News Chicago Investigators shows calls for service around the 300 block of E. 53rd Street, where the building is located, went from under 200 in 2023 to dozens more over 200 calls in 2024.

There were also more calls about batteries in progress, domestic disturbances, and people being shot. Lawrence Nelson is the president of the Building Tenant Association.

"Police came and took a report, but they also told me they couldn't send nobody out to investigate because nobody was hurt," Lawrence said.

Nelson contacted the office of 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell. Her office met with residents and staff and had a violence prevention organization assess a gang conflict. Dowell said none was found.

"We asked the police department in the 2nd district to give special attention to the area. We were trying to make the assessment of what was going on," Dowell said.

Residents said more police patrols have been seen in the area. Dowell said a man was also arrested for firing a gun from this building across the street from TRC Village Monday night. No one was hurt.

Police haven't confirmed if that man is connected to the other incidents.

CBS News Chicago spoke to the management of the building and told them they're in the process of working on their security contract to add additional security in the aftermath of the shootings.