4 charged in separate West Side shootings

Police said that on Oct. 5, a group of men were standing on a sidewalk in the 1500 block of South Christiana Avenue when a vehicle approached. Attackers inside fired several shots before fleeing.
Fatally injured was Sharron Wilkins, 24, of Chicago, who was shot twice in the head. A 21-year-old man was also shot, suffering a bullet wound to the leg, Harrison Area Lt. Anthony Wojcik told WGN-TV in a press conference. Wilkins died two days later.

Tips came in to the gang unit, and police later found a stolen rental car used in the killing, but no arrests were made.

On Tuesday, a 31-year-old man was shot 12 times in a drive-by shooting in the 1000 block of North Cicero Avenue, police said. Just after the shooting, Harrison District officers spotted the vehicle used in the shooting and they and and Gang Enforcement Unit officers gave chase, Wojcik said.

Several suspects were arrested as they fled the vehicle after abandoning it following a long high-speed chase, Wojcik said. Police learned three of the men brought in for questioning had links to the unsolved October case.

Pierre "Pee Wee" Manning, 24, of the 0-99 block of North Central Avenue, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery in the October shooting and attempted first-degree murder for the Tuesday shooting. He was being held without bond at Cook County Jail, according to the jail's Web site.

James Jackson, 31, of the 1800 block of North Merrimac Avenue, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery for the October shooting. He was being held on $100,000 bond.

Tremaine Mason, 25, of the 1200 block of North Harding Avenue, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery for the October shooting. He was being held without bond.

Ricardo Bryant, 26, of the 2400 block of West Harrison Street, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by felon for the Tuesday incident. He was being held on $4,000 bond.

All four had prior criminal records, Wojcik said.

Another suspect in the Cicero Avenue shooting, who fled the vehicle at the same time as the other suspects, is still at large, Wojcik said.

Wojcik said "people feared" Manning, who had been among the Police Department's Top 10 Persons of Interest, but police hope the arrests will help spur West Side residents to come forward with more information about other incidents he and the other suspects might have been involved in.

"We know the community was kind of scared to get involved and the only thing I can tell you is, please cooperate," said Wojcik. "It it's only a phone call you can make to police, it can be very helpful to us."