Kids in the Crossfire Stacey Dooley in the USA

Contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

Her name is Ashley Hardmon.

She played basketball. Those are her jerseys.

This is one of her trophies.

I think this one she won for a place in a...

-That was this year?

-Yeah.

Two months ago, Ashley was shot dead.

It's a wake-up call. It's a wake-up call to every...

It's a wake-up call.

Ashley was just 19

when she was killed in the city she grew up in - Chicago.

Cops saw us! Run!

We got shots fired over here.

'Chicago is now the murder capital of the United States.'

'Since 2001, 2,000 troops have died in Afghanistan,

'while 5,000 have died in Chicago.'

I don't want to sell drugs, I don't want to carry a gun.

It's easy to say but it's hard to do.

I've come to Chicago to find out why young people like Ashley

are dying.

Do you all know someone who's been shot?

Yeah. A lot of them.

And what it's like growing up in one of the most dangerous cities

in America.

You know, we're not in a war zone,

we're not in a country that's going through civil war, you know?

We're in Chicago.

This is Chicago. It's the third-largest city in America.

My first time here.

I guess it's typical of an impressive, huge

city in the States - bustling, very busy.

There's a huge financial district.

It's hard to imagine that this place has one of the highest murder

rates for under-25s in the whole of the US.

I'm heading out to meet Ashley Hardmon's family.

They live in Austin, a neighbourhood about ten miles from the city

centre.

ICE CREAM VAN PLAYS TUNE

Hey.

Oh, from England. It's...

She from England.

Roger. What?

From England.

-England?

-London.

Ashley's 15-year-old brother, Anthony Jr, has agreed to

show me around the area.

So, Anthony, down the bottom of this road is your sister's memorial.

Yeah, it was her memorial.

Actually, the corner we're about to step on is where the shooters

was aiming from, this corner right here.

They was in the middle of the street and my sister was on the upper

side of the corner.

-This corner?

-Yeah.

The shots rang quick.

Ashley took off, trying to get away

but she got hit in the back of the head.

I see her and I get over to my dad, he move me out the way,

he pulls her hoodie back.

Her brain is showing.

And all the people that she was with,

you feel like someone saw something.

Yeah. Someone seen something.

But what, they're too scared?

Yeah.

That's her memorial.

Yeah.

It's kept nice, though, right?

Yeah. My sister Latasia made that poster over there.

You see, you got the music and the basketball?

Ah. So that's been up there since she died?

That's what you call normal when things happen so often, you know?

It's not surprising.

Only thing that was surprising to me, that it

was my daughter and it was my child.

But we been round here all our life.

My father been round here all his life.

We were basically born in this neighbourhood, so...

..we never had any issues,

no gun violence, anything.

That has changed.

So...my sister wasn't, like, no bad person.

She wasn't perfect but she wasn't a bad person.

She didn't have any malice.

Mm.

She was just coming from school.

It wasn't, like, she was only, like, around the block from, like, home.

Right around the corner.

That's the thing, isn't it? She's, like...

..19 years old, round the corner from her family home,

she's from a lovely

family, she's not involved with any of that carry on and she gets shot.

It's crazy.

-Hello.

-Hi there.

Sorry. Thank you for letting me come into your home.

-No problem.

-I really appreciate it.

That's all right.

Thank you.

Maybe your dad struggles.

He struggles.

He have breakdowns every night, you know?

I hear that anger.

It's, like, so destructive, like the world is ending

when he screams that,

"No! No!"

But it's, like, all the time.

-Excuse me.

-Sorry.

-It's OK.

SIRENS WAIL

Can you hear that?

So that's me. I've just left the house, just said goodbye.

There's a siren a couple of roads away. It's...

just confirming everything that we've just spoken about.

There's a car coming down the road now

with a couple of lads in it and the music going off.

It's a reality.

Innocent families like the Hardmons

seem to be caught in the middle of gang warfare

that's taking over their neighbourhood.

So this website is astonishing.

It lists the names of everyone that's been shot dead per month.

There she is, Ashley Hardmon.

198th person to be shot this year.

We're on the 16th day of this month

and we've already lost one, two, three, four, five, ten, 15, 20.

20 people have been shot dead this month in Chicago.

Half of these people won't have reached their 25th birthday.

This is a huge epidemic.

It's frightening, it's scary.

It's mad.

ON RADIO: 931 Leather, 931 Leather.

I have a 21-year-old male shot...

Ashley was killed in the neighbourhood of Austin.

It's known for gang crime,

but it's not the only neighbourhood that this is happening in.

The bulk of the gang violence

is spread across 28 different neighbourhoods

on the west and south sides of Chicago.

With nearly 70,000 members,

Chicago is the most gang-populated city in America -

that according to the FBI.

To get a better picture of what is happening in this city,

I'm going on patrol with the sheriff's special gang unit.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-How are you?

-Good, how are you?

-I'm Stacey.

-Danielle.

-Really nice to meet you.

-Hello. All right?

-Hey Stacey, how you doing?

Have I caught you in lunch?

Yeah, you gotta eat good before you fight crime.

'I'm joining Officer Eddy B and Officer Red.'

It is exciting. I'm also a tiny bit nervous,

but we'll be fine, won't we?

Sh, riding with some of the best officers we got out there.

-Uh-huh.

-Of course.

You're guaranteed to have some fun with us.

All right, you ready to get suited up here?

Put this on over you.

Not, you know, too tight but you can adjust those.

It's just the heart that I'm quite concerned about.

This is us?

Are we under cover?

I've never been in an undercover cop car.

A beautiful experience.

'We're going on patrol in Ford Heights,

'one of the poorest areas on the south side.'

This guy here right now, what we going to do,

we going to have a talk with him.

Oh, gosh. Oh. Uh-oh. Oh, gosh.

'There are two main rival gangs -

the Four Corner Hustlers and the Gangster Disciples,

who control the area.

The minute you drive into this neighbourhood, it's like,

"Boof!" You know, this...

..is gang banging territory and they don't muck about, you know?

Now, you getting a ticket for drinking alcohol on a public way.

He has a prior gang background,

and I think he's got 26 previous arrests.

-His last one...

-26?

Some for guns, some for narcotics

and various other misdemeanours and felonies.

In speaking to the police, it's become apparent very quickly

that gang bangers, gangs and drugs all go together,

more often than not hand in hand.

How do you determine, how do you know who's in a gang?

They can be recognised by the colours that they wear.

And other ways - tattoos with their symbols.

With the Latin Kings, you have the crown.

They're going to have the five-point star.

There's a lot of open-air drug markets out in this area.

They sell drugs in broad daylight?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

You'll see a lot of abandoned buildings -

falling apart, dilapidated.

So this isn't unusual in Ford Heights, right?

-No.

-We see this all the time?

-Yes.

Is it OK to have a look at this?

-Red, will you run out with me?

-Oh, yeah.

-OK.

-We have an abandoned house.

It's had fires, it's been vandalised by people in the neighbourhood.

They're going to try to tag it up to claim that it's theirs.

A pitchfork is a typical gang symbol for the Gangster Disciples,

and the fork is turned upside down,

which shows a disrespect to the Gangster Disciples,

so obviously someone of a rival gang tagged that on there

to show disrespect to the Gangster Disciples.

They're on a Four, you know,

something against the Four Corner Hustlers,

-disrespecting them.

-They're another gang.

-Right.

-Four Corner Hustlers.

-Yeah.

When we say Fours, that's Four Corner Hustler.

How big are these gangs?

Are we talking hundreds, Red, or thousands?

-Thousands.

-Thousands.

There are thousands of gang members in the Chicagoland area.

I mean, the number goes up, it seems, every day.

You got as many being killed as you do, unfortunately, being raised

in that lifestyle to take over.

-It's no joke.

-It's rough out here,

but it's everyday life for people that live out here.

'At 10.30 that night, another officer on patrol

'has heard gunshots back in Ford Heights.'

The guys just got a call, there's been multiple shots fired.

They are suspecting that perhaps it might be gang retaliation.

'It's not clear yet if anyone's been hurt.'

OK, thank you.

STACEY SIGHS

The guys are adamant that I don't get out of the car

until Eddy says it's OK,

which obviously I completely understand and I completely respect.

To be honest, I'm not in a mad rush to hop out...

..when there's multiple gunshots

and we don't know where they're coming from.

KNOCK AT DOOR

'They suspect the shots have been fired

'from inside this house.'

There are enough guys that are aware of what they're doing now.

We're investigating the house where subjects

possibly could have ran into.

We're pretty much forming a line to walk back

from where the shots probably occurred

to see if we can find any type of casings

-or evidence of the shots fired.

-Right.

OK, you guys ready?

-We going to make this real quick...

-OK.

'They're still looking for the shooter,

'but Officer Eddy B has a good idea who might have been involved.'

There's a tag there on the side of the...

There's a tag here on the side of the house.

Keep it there, OD. Yeah, the number four.

Point towards the other one.

So now you have the GDN, which stands for Gangster Disciple Nation.

Gangster Disciples.

Right, so both gangs are trying to gain control of this building,

as far as who's going to sell drugs to this location.

The Four Corner Hustlers and the Gangster Disciples

are just two of the 60 main gangs that operate in the Chicago area.

So yeah. So yeah, I really do.

All right, y'all take it easy, brothers.

'They have no luck finding the shooter

'and after speaking to people in the area,

'apparently no-one knows anything.'

Seven to eight people in one house all heard shots fired

coming within their back yard the next block over

and no-one called the police.

That's what I mean, that it's just...

They treat it as it's the norm for them, which is sad but true.

Nobody wants to be seen to be talking to the authorities.

No-one wants to be seen to be gossiping about the gangs.

You know, this gang culture is so ingrained

in so many parts of these kind of neighbourhoods

that people have to accept...

that this is how they have to live their lives.

I've seen the gangs from the safety of a cop car,

but I wanted to find out more about how they work.

I'm heading to the neighbourhood of Auburn Gresham,

where two of the most established Chicago gangs -

the Gangster Disciples and the Black P Stones - operate.

I'm going to spend some time with a group of lads

who are trying to intervene directly with the gang bangers...

'putting themselves on the front line, really,

'in a hostile environment.

'The Peacemakers are a group of ex-gang members

'led by brothers Terence and Curt.'

Pizza?

What's the plan? Where are you going today?

We're probably just going to head out towards 79th Street,

-see where the crowd...

-79th?

-Yeah. That's like where...

-OK. Stuck to you like glue.

'I'm relying on Curt's past affiliation with the Black P Stones

'to keep me safe.'

Maybe you'll get stabbed.

So you've seen a lot, you've witnessed a lot, you've heard a lot.

-Yeah.

-You've been around.

-You have?

-Yes.

It sounds like you were really involved.

How did you distance yourself from that kind of carry-on?

But, you know, you get to seeing...

stuff you've done in your past, replaying, you know,

going to so many funerals, you know,

seeing the families of different people.

How many people have you lost that you cared about?

I'm probably at about 65.

-65 friends...

-Yeah.

-..dead.

Yeah.

SIREN WAILS

Yeah, I think something happening down there.

He got away.

Can you go in that area? Is that your area?

Yeah, that's our area.

'As we hit 79th Street and Ashland Avenue,

'what looks like a normal junction to me

'is a dangerous borderline between two rival factions.'

So is it as simple as, Curt, the lads that live

in this part of the neighbourhood,

are affiliated with one gang

and the lads that live on the other side of this road

are affiliated with a rival gang?

-Same gang.

-No, same gang.

-Same gang, but rivals.

-Just don't like each other.

-That's insane.

-Yeah, that's it.

So they're all part of the same gang,

but there's even issues within your own gang?

-Yeah.

-Why?

Cos it's broken down from, like, you know...

They say it's a gang problem.

It's really not a gang problem. It's like a block problem now.

I live on this block, you live on that block.

You from across Ash and I'm from this side of Ash.

The gang thing is almost really a thing of the past,

because there's no structure, you know what I mean?

These are young guys just doing what they want to do.

And they run about with a gun.

And then give 'em a semi or a fully-automatic rifle.

And then see someone across the street, literally 100 metres away

-and think...

-And just take aim.

"You weren't born where I was. That means I hate you"?

You were born, I know you, I went to school with you,

but you live on the other side of the street.

-So that's an issue?

-That's an issue.

I wanted to meet some young men who are still active

on the streets in the Black P Stones.

So Terence, what are we looking out for?

I'm just walking around,

like, I could walk up on some of the guys now, I believe.

You know, just interact with them and see

if they're all good over here,

if anything been going on, you know, kind of feel their vibe out.

-We hurting, man. We hurting out here. We need a job, man.

-Hi.

We need some gigs, dawg. We passing that shit out?

We try to bash it. If we could...

Tell me what it's like to live here.

Man, it's as hard as shit. It's going to be hard.

It's life, man, you know?

Life ain't easy, but shit at the same time, you know,

it's a hustle, it's a grind, man.

You gotta wake up here, the day's shit.

What do you boys do on a daily basis?

Get money.

Yeah? How do you make your money?

How I make money?

You sell gear? Sell drugs?

I don't tell you all that.

I get up and do something, that's what I do.

Would you like a regular job, a career?

Yeah. Yeah, I work, I work a nine-five. You got something?

-Not right now.

-No? Not right now? OK.

Do you all own your own gun?

You can get anything you want out here.

In Chicago, you can buy anything you want on these streets,

no matter what it is - automatics, hand guns, it don't matter.

As long as you got the money, you could buy...

How much do I need for a decent gun?

-About 300, yeah.

-Right.

-300?

-Yeah.

-So you gotta have some kind of protection out here. It's a must.

-Can't be lacking out here.

-No lacking at all.

They going to get you, so you gotta have an ups.

CURT: You gotta defend yourself at all cost, know what I'm saying?

-That's not the solution, surely?

-It's definitely not the solution

cos everybody should be able to intermingle and get along

with each other, but we so far from that, you know what I mean?

Do you want that? Do you want these rivals to exist?

I have no problem with talking to the opposite gang,

I have no problem with talking with them.

I'd love to walk home and ain't gotta worry

about looking over my shoulder, you know what I'm saying?

But, you know, this is where I'm at right now.

The gang lifestyle is so ingrained

it's hard to imagine how it could change.

Attention. Assemble to the right. March.

'One place they're trying to break the cycle is at Cook County Prison.'

-Foxtrot platoon.

-Sir.

Exercise. One...

Non-violent offenders can opt to do time in this military style regime

as an alternative to going to prison.

-Hey, hi.

-I'm looking for Director Jones.

-I am him.

-Yeah?

-Yes.

-How are you doing?

-How you doing?

-I'm Stacey.

-Nice meeting you, Stacey.

-Nice to meet you also.

-Welcome to boot camp.

-Thank you.

I'm going to keep close to you.

STACEY LAUGHS

They're doing some drills.

Forward.

INMATES CHANT

The inmates are here for four months under a strict programme

of discipline and physical exercise.

One, two, three...

-INMATES:

-Go.

Tell me why they're involved in this intensive training.

Why is that necessary?

Unfortunately, a lot of these guys didn't understand their worth,

because everyone has told them, "You're not worth anything."

All they know is my neighbourhood, my block, my alley.

In four months, realistically,

can you stop that kind of trail of thought?

Well, we're not going to try to stop that mentality

cos that mentality is them, that's their community.

-Right.

-That's what you grew up in.

But what we are going to try to do is channel it differently.

And how many of these guys will be in gangs?

All of them.

-Left, right.

-Foxtrot!

'Whether you're a Gangster Disciple or a Black P Stone,

'all gang members are forced to live together.'

Thank you.

-INMATES CHANT:

-Let's start getting busy. What's up?!

If you could do one thing to make the world a better place

for your little brother or sister, what would it be and why?

They also have higher education and counselling classes

to try and tackle some of the root causes of reoffending.

Sir, if I could do one thing to make the world a better place,

I would drastically raise the price of weapons and ammunition,

because right now they're too easy to obtain.

Sir, if I could make the world a better place

for my brothers and sisters,

I would take away the guns and the drugs, sir,

cos they play a big part in our community, sir.

OK.

Some of you would like to reduce the violence, reduce the guns,

reduce the drugs, reduce the gang activity.

In a couple of days, you're going to graduate.

Maybe it could begin with you.

-INMATES SHOUT:

-Foxtrot!

Here we go.

OK. Here we go, OK.

It's this idea that all of them are involved in gangs and violence,

it's just completely standard here for so many young people.

You know, they're all saying that they're hellbent

on being miles different when they get out,

and they don't want to be involved in that side of things, but...

I just think, for me, how realistic is that?

Take a seat. Brady.

'Foxtrot Platoon are coming to the end

'of their four-month stint in boot camp.'

-You are David, right?

-Yeah, yes, ma'am.

-I'm Stacey.

-Nice to meet you, ma'am.

Nice to meet you.

'19-year-old David is just days from his release.'

Put it away.

How many times have you been in prison?

-Four times.

-Four?

Ma'am, yes ma'am.

How old are you?

Ma'am, 19, ma'am.

What are you in for?

Strong arm robbery. I was trying to rip his pants off.

You were after the pants?

You don't even want the wallet or the phone?

I wanted the wallet, but he was giving me a hard time

getting the wallet, so I'm like just take the whole pants

and everything's going to be inside the pants.

Why are you boys laughing?

I mean, they see you whoop on somebody,

the next man going to be like, "Oh, I ain't messing with him,"

and they going to call you names if you don't do it.

But if you do it and make them, like,

"Oh, don't mess with him, he good, he good and he..."

You know, stuff like that, it's all over like a pride thing.

Men, stand. Stand.

Arms to the left. March.

But you're 19, you've been in prison four times.

-Mmm, mmm.

-How's that happened?

The first time I ever got locked up,

it was at 14 and it was for a gun, I was carrying a weapon.

I ended up getting caught and I went to jail for it.

What gang are you in?

Ma'am, Black P Stone, ma'am.

Black P Stone?

-Yes, ma'am.

-Right.

But right now, I'm really not following a gang, ma'am.

I'm trying to change my life, ma'am,

because the stuff that I've been doing, it ain't working for me.

How are you going to... not be in a gang?

Like, it's unrealistic, no?

Do you see what I'm saying?

Ma'am, I don't want to sell drugs, I don't want to carry a gun.

It's easy to say but it's hard to do.

Like, I just can't go out of here and be like,

"Hi, my name's David, I'm trying to change, I want a job," so it's hard.

Thank you.

'David is a really complex character

'and, you know, on the one hand...'

..he says things that make perfect sense

and I agree with him wholeheartedly.

But then you see flickers of what he has been for such a long time,

and you can see that he could still be willing to entertain...

..that old lifestyle.

'I'm going back to Austin to spend some time

'with Ashley Hardmon's brother, Anthony Junior.'

Tiffany, I'll see you in a bit.

'He's 15, almost the same age David was when he first joined the gang.'

So school was good?

-School was great.

-Yeah?

Any gossip, any news?

Well, I'll be playing running back and linebacker.

-Yeah?

-For my football team, yeah.

That's good. So you're into basketball, football.

-Yeah, keep myself active.

-The whole lot.

You know, so I won't be active in other negative things, you know?

This is it.

Anthony Junior is growing up in a neighbourhood

where one of the most violent gangs, the Vice Lords, have a stronghold.

Every car that drives by I'm looking at

and I'm seeing how they're looking at us.

Yeah. Yeah, you notice that?

'He's introducing me to some of his friends

'who have also avoided getting caught up with gangs.'

I'm Stacey.

Hello.

What's going on?

-Nothing much.

-Nothing much?

We're in the park now. You're not scared sat here?

No, today was a good day.

No gunshots, all friends together, we go and play basketball.

But that's insane, that statement there is nuts.

-How old are you?

-14.

-14.

So I've got a 14-year-old telling me

today was a really good day cos there were no gunshots.

That's how it is round here.

And you boys are all into basketball.

Some of you are really good. Where's the court?

-Where do you play?

-We play in our back yard,

cos there's too much violence right there.

-There's too much stuff going on.

-We can't play there

because there's too many shootings going on up there.

Shootings. It's just terrible.

-Do you all know someone who's been shot?

-Yeah, a lot.

So do you all dream of becoming successful professionals?

Yeah, we talk about how we're going to get each other

out the hood if we make it.

Every single person sitting here in my house, in my mansion

when I get older, you know.

We all eating lobster...

-LAUGHING:

-All eating lobster.

I'm dead serious. We all got our own cars, we got Bugattis, everything.

THEY LAUGH

When they reference their future, they always say, "If we make it.

"If we get big.

"If we're lucky."

That just winds me up.

I just think you boys should have dreams

and you should have aspirations

and you should take it as a given that you're going to live...

but truly they don't.

Later that evening, there is a major incident

in another south side neighbourhood.

There has been a mass shooting in Chicago's

Back of the Yard neighbourhood tonight.

One a three-year-old child.

-ON RADIO:

-We have a couple, what may be a three-year-old

and then I got at least two shots.

EMS plan one at 18.01 West 51st Street

for multiple gunshots and there is an ambulance.

That's plan one, 18.01, West 51st, multiple shooting victims.

This is the early hours and it's just come to light

that 13 people...

..have been shot on this very basketball court.

One of them was a three-year-old...

shot in the face.

This comes after having a conversation

with little Anthony and his pals

telling me they can't play on their local basketball court

because there's too many shootings. It's just...

You can't believe it unless you're here.

If there was a shooting of this scale, you know,

back in the UK, the place would be mobbed.

It's normal.

MUSIC: "Ablivion" by Unkle

Even for Chicago, the mass shooting is big news.

So it's just over 12 hours since all the shootings last night

and the police department have come out and said

they're holding a press conference.

At about 10.15pm last night,

13 people, including a three-year-old,

were injured in a shooting at Cornell Square Park

in the Back of the Yards neighbourhood.

Based on ballistics evidence at the scene

and information and intelligence from the scene,

we believe the weapon used in this incident

was an assault style rifle with a high capacity magazine.

Based on evidence and our initial interviews with witnesses,

this appears to be a gang-related shooting.

Illegal guns... Illegal guns...

Illegal guns drive violence,

and military-type weapons, like the one we believe

to have been used in this shooting, belong on a battlefield,

not on a street or in a corner or in a park in the Back of the Yards.

ON RADIO: Two males, Black, were shot.

I'm trying to get some info. Stand by.

We got more ambulances coming, you guys. More coming.

'Within hours, the retaliation shootings start.'

It's just come to light

that another two lads have been shot this afternoon in broad daylight,

so these boys aren't even waiting till the sun goes down now.

They haven't even got the patience for that.

One of them died at about half one-ish this afternoon.

The retaliation shooting has happened in the neighbourhood of

Auburn Gresham, on the same street I was taken to just the other day.

-MAN: No more shooting! GROUP:

-No more shooting!

-No more guns!

-No more guns!

-Stop the violence!

-Stop the violence!

-Stop the killing!

-Stop the killing!

No more guns!

The two gangs involved seem to be the Gangster Disciples

and the Black P Stones.

-No more guns!

-No more guns!

Ex-Black P Stone members Curt and Terence

have taken to the streets to try and intercept any more violence.

-..in our neighbourhood.

-In our neighbourhood.

-Terence.

-What's going on?

-Come and talk to me.

-How you feeling? I'm fine.

-How you doing today?

-Yeah, good. An amazing turnout.

You gotta be happy with the crowd.

Most definitely, yes, happy with the turnout.

Terence, where are we heading now?

We're on our way right now to an area

where someone was recently shot, on 79th and Willets

so we going out there cos it's real tense right now.

A lot of people out there and, you know, we just want to go out there

and spread the word that retaliation ain't the key, you know?

We have a purpose.

-WOMAN:

-We have a future.

-We have a future.

-We have a purpose.

-We have a purpose.

-Keep faith.

-Keep faith.

-Keep hope.

-Keep hope.

-We're down.

-We're down.

And where are the gang bangers tonight? Where will they be?

I mean, they know that you're out.

I mean, they out there with us, you know?

I mean, in the crowds,

they're out and it's good to see that they just...

They're listening at least.

They're listening and that's why we just trying to spread the word.

-Stop the killing.

-Stop the killing.

-Start the healing.

-Start the healing.

-Stop the killing.

-Stop the killing.

-Start the healing.

-Start the healing.

I've got to be honest, I was scared when I knew I was coming out,

and I knew there was retaliation shootings expected, I thought,

"Oh, what are we going into?"

This is the most positive, amazing scene I've seen

since I've been here.

Yeah, and that's what we just trying to create.

We let people know that their lives is more valuable

than being in jail and to be in the cemetery,

so the vibe is positive and when you spread the good word like that,

it's contagious like the flu. We just trying to touch everybody

with this peace.

If we get to one person, just one, you know,

we did a good deed for the day.

-Coming through. Coming through.

-Thank you.

How are we not outraged?

How did we become desensitised to death?

As a brother who comes from the street,

I just want the brothers and sisters out there to know

that we feel your pain, we've lost loved ones as well,

but when you retaliate, when you wake up in the morning,

that loved one doesn't wake back up with you.

-Yes.

-It's only a temporary fix.

We need to let these young brothers and sisters know

that they are valued and their life is precious

and that we love you and we're here with you

and we're not going to give up on you.

-That's right.

-All right.

-- Yes, sir.

Today's just been such a crazy day.

You know, apart from the two that I'd heard of being shot,

just learnt that another kid was shot around the corner

ten times near a church.

So that gives you an inkling of what's gone on

over the past 24 hours.

MAN: Chicago Police are seizing about 130 illegal weapons each week.

The police superintendent says if you can reduce weapons,

you will reduce crime.

We all know there are millions of guns within the US,

but the crazy thing is that Chicago has the toughest gun laws

within the US.

I'm on my way to visit the Cook County Gun Suppression Unit to see

for myself the type of weapons they are taking off the street.

These are military style weapons.

Thompson submachine gun right there.

Little AR-15 there.

The evidence room is stacked with everything from pistols

and rifles to semi-automatics that have been taken from illegal owners.

Give me an idea of how many rounds that can shoot off.

I know you can have a 30-round magazine in there.

This one you can have a drum, you can have a 100-round drum in there.

-100 rounds, that's 100 bullets.

-Yeah, mm-hmm.

Why do you feel like someone would need a gun of this calibre?

Wow, that's actually a good question.

Why would someone need something like that?

You certainly don't hunt with something like that.

Maybe in a war zone or military it might be suitable,

but certainly not in a city.

This is my boss right here.

-He can fill you in on probably more than I can.

-Thank you.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-How are you?

-I'm good.

-I'm Stacey.

Stacey, I'm Tom. Nice to meet you.

'Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is campaigning to close

'the loopholes in Chicago's gun laws.'

So how are these gang bangers getting hold of guns?

The majority come from suburban gun shops.

Frequently it's a gang member's girlfriend.

She'll go in there, she'll have identification.

She'll go in and buy two or three handguns that she'll then give

to her boyfriend who then sells them or does whatever he does with them.

Another large source, which has been a very troubling problem for us,

is right across the border in Indiana, they've gun shows.

People go to the gun show, then the real scumbags go out to their cars.

Then they open their trunks and they sell out of their trunk to people.

Because it's a person-to-person private sale,

they have virtually no requirements to check anything.

The gang bang people are not known to be hanging around gun

ranges having practice and learning gun safety issues,

it's not really high on their list of things to do.

So when they get their hands on a gun,

the chances of hitting the person they're trying to - very slim.

So even more innocent people get hit.

You're really left just trying to do damage control afterwards.

Even the Sheriff himself seems to be at a bit of a loss

as to what the solution is.

There'll always be loopholes

and these gangbangers will always find a way of making

sure that the guns ultimately can sometimes end up in their hands.

Ready. Let's go.

-INMATES SHOUT:

-One.

-Let's go.

-Two.

'Foxtrot Platoon are coming to the end of their four months inside

'at Cook County Boot Camp.'

Thank you.

'I'm going back for their graduation ceremony

'to mark the end of their time there.'

-David...

-What's going on?

-How you feeling?

Outstanding, ma'am.

Did you think today would come?

I knew it would come, ma'am.

It was tough, though, ma'am.

I heard that graduation was cancelled cos the weather's no good.

It's raining.

Ma'am, they going to have to let me go.

-THEY LAUGH

-He's like, "Let me out!"

Do you know who's coming, who's coming to graduation?

Ma'am, yes, ma'am - my mother, my daughter

and that's all I know for sure, ma'am.

Your daughter's coming?

Ma'am, yes, ma'am.

Platoon, attention. Prepare to fall out.

-INMATES:

-Sir, prepare to fall out, sir!

Fall out.

INMATES CHANT

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It's going to be hard. It's going to be hard, but they are equipped.

They are equipped to handle it, if they chose to.

And how many of these boys will stay on the straight and narrow,

and how many of these will essentially end up back in prison

in the next few years?

Out of this class, out of 38 guys,

I don't expect to see but one or two back.

-Really?!

-Oh, yeah. Yeah.

For the first year, because they've still gotta do

eight more months with me.

They're sentenced to us for eight more months.

They come in and they're dropped for drugs, they're asking,

"What are you doing?

"Are you in school? Do you have a job?

"What is your plans?" It's a lot of temptations out there.

-Sounds like they've got a lot to contend with.

-Yeah...

but we're going to help them make it.

For four months, we here in boot camp have trained hard

physically and mentally to better ourselves for this very day.

We're taught things like integrity, respect and patience.

Most importantly, we discovered many ways to go about being successful.

Now, from this day forward, it is on us to make better choices

and apply what we learned to our lives.

She like being outside.

-Look at her eyes. You see her eyes? She's like...

-Look, Kylie.

It Da-Da-Da.

She like, "Whatever."

Hey. Say, "Hey," Kylie.

I'm surprised she laying on me and not crying.

I ain't seen her in a long time.

She knows it's her dad.

It's very nice. Made me as a man.

I'm still kind of shake, I'm shaking, I'm so happy. I'm happy.

David will spend the next month on a tag under house arrest,

followed by a further seven months of regular check-ins at boot camp.

If you're a young man growing up here, it's incredibly difficult.

Sounds like you've got two choices -

you either become part of the gang or you really try and avoid it.

But I haven't spoke to that many girls.

I'm not sure if it's similar rules for them.

Yes. Come on.

Hi.

What you saying, Latasia?

'Despite losing her sister Ashley to random gang violence

'just a few months ago, Latasia is trying her best

'to rebuild her life.'

We all mourn different, so I just talk their ears off...

..until they get tired of me talking.

And what is it like, girls, to live in this part of Chicago?

Like, truly, what is life like?

Well, for us, we have to basically, like, live a double life,

you know, like, we live in the communities

where all the violence and stuff is happening,

but then we still have careers and goals.

You have to be careful who you socialise with.

Even though there are some people that's involved in gangs,

they may be the sweetest person,

but you still have to, like, be careful.

And with all this said, how do you go about picking a boyfriend?

How do you know who's OK to go about with and who isn't?

You have to, like, learn to cut people off, like, are you in a gang?

Do you have a job? Do you believe in God?

Do you have both of your parents? Where do you live?

Latoyah's ruthless.

You have to be.

Have you ever fancied someone who's part of a gang?

I have, haven't I?

Yeah.

Tell me.

He was kind of, he was...

involved in negativity.

-We've all been there.

-Yeah.

We've all been there.

Mm-hmm. But you had to distance that guy that you fancied?

Yeah. It was hard. So hard...

..but you gotta bottle all your feelings up and just say,

"I deserve better."

'There is still one member of the Hardmon family

'that I haven't really been able to get to know -

'Ashley's dad, Anthony Senior.'

-Who's winning?

-Me.

-Obviously.

-Yeah.

How are you?

-Tired.

-Tired?

I ain't done this in a long time.

-It's all that exercise.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Anthony Junior...

-All that.

..giving you a run for your money.

Mmm. He give me a run but not for the money.

So how are you coping generally?

Me coping generally? I'm not really coping.

It's like I say, though, I try to find things to keep my mind up...

..but I don't have enough to keep me occupied from the negative.

I mean, sometimes I think I'd be more at ease

if me being dead, I don't have to even go through the pain.

-Mmm.

-Everything bad, right? So...

You know?

Just like you said, like, he did this to my baby, you know?

And my thing, you know, my key is that he might ever touch you

or hurt y'all, daddy coming.

I'm coming and, you know, and, like, I keep my word.

What was your word?

I gave my word that if somebody ever touch y'all

or put their hands on or hurt y'all,

your daddy going to come and get him.

And that's what I feel. I realise...

I wrestled with it and then say maybe that make me feel at ease,

you know what I'm saying?

To deal with, to cope with the situation.

-If I get one or two or three of them.

-What do you mean, get?

-Like, you find the killers?

-Yeah.

That's the thing about it,

so it's like I may be at ease, you know?

So, but...

I'm too, I don't want to talk about it.

OK. Thanks, Anthony.

That's the first time your dad has ever spoken to anyone

outside the family, right?

Yeah. But no, throughout everything, he never...

He kept to his self, didn't speak about his feelings to nobody.

Do you feel like it would help your father...to be able...?

..to be slightly more at peace

if he knew who was responsible for killing his baby?

Yeah.

Catching the killers, it would bring a lot, you know,

settlement into this house.

Yeah.

Realistically, the Hardmons may never find Ashley's killer.

Last year, only 26% of murders were solved here by the police.

It's David's first week out of boot camp.

-All right?

-Hello.

-Am I OK to come in?

-Yeah.

Where's David?

-He's upstairs.

-He's upstairs.

David grew up in the neighbourhood of Englewood, a gang hot spot.

But in an effort to stay out of trouble,

he has moved in with his stepfather, who lives in Roseland.

It's five and a half miles away,

but it's still an area immersed in gang violence.

Here he is. How you feeling?

Ma'am, outstanding, ma'am.

So that's your tag?

-Ma'am, yes, ma'am.

-How long you got that on for?

I was told 28 days, but it might be a little longer than 28 days.

You gotta stay in the house the whole time?

Ma'am, yes, ma'am.

I'm not interested to leave the house anyway.

Now is my time for me to be looking at schools

and all the different trades I learned about,

so soon as I get a chance, I'm going to get on that.

I got my Bible. Make sure my daughter right.

I'm going to take it from there.

You've been inside, haven't you, four times?

Ma'am, yes, ma'am.

After this, there's no more programme for me.

It's prison now, so my next step will be prison, but I'm not...

I'm not trying to go to a next step.

What do you reckon, Dariece, seeing your brother go

in and out of prison countless times,

does that make you worry about David?

Like, sometime I be, like, scared,

I don't know what's going to happen to him.

Like, if I hear a gunshot, I'll get scared.

One time around the house, some dude got shot, but he was out there.

So no more carrying a gun for you?

Ma'am, no, ma'am.

I can't say that I...

I can't say that guns... Like, I will never carry a gun.

That's something that I don't know cos something could happen right now

and I just...

I need me a gun.

But not running about with it on the street?

Not running about. Nothing like that.

I've gotta keep reminding myself that he's 19 years old.

Four times to be inside at that age is a lot, isn't it?

SIREN WAILS

There's another siren. I don't know if you can hear that.

Here we go again.

That's, like, a perfect example of where we are

and what David's going to come up against.

It's now four days since the mass shooting

hit the headlines in Chicago,

and there's a breakthrough in the case.

MAN: Four people, including two suspected gunmen,

are now charged in the mass shooting in a Chicago park

that left 13 wounded.

So it's just come to light that they've arrested four young men

in the connection with the shooting on Thursday.

All of them have been arrested for attempted murder,

and they're all 22 or younger.

Bryon Champ was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon

by a felon in July of 2012

and was sentenced to boot camp.

The interesting thing is that the lads that they believe

to be most instrumental

has only been out of boot camp a year.

David, every time I have a conversation with him,

he's adamant that, no, he's not going down that road again

and he's got his Kylie now and he wants to keep

on the straight and narrow.

You know, who knows what David will do

after these eight months are finished?

Who can say? Who can call that?

Police may have found the people behind the mass shooting,

but Ashley Hardmon was murdered three months ago

and they are still no closer to finding her killer.

It took them less than a week to catch four people...

..that shot 13 people.

Less than a week.

But they have not one suspect, not one person of interest,

not one anybody, it's like a ghost walked up to my daughter

and fired into a crowd and shot her in the head.

And Tiffany, I know...

..it's incredibly important for you

that you find the person responsible,

however long it takes, whoever it is.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-You need to know who did this to your baby.

You know, I just don't think it's fair...

..because I want my day in court.

I would just like the person to know that what you took from me...

..you know, was everything.

What people doing today, this is, you know, stupidity.

That's what I'm trying to get into their head.

Can everyone please line up ahead...

'It's my last day in Chicago

'and the Hardmons have taken matters into their own hands.

'They have come together as a family for the first time

'to make a direct appeal to their community

'to try and find Ashley's killer.'

What are you hoping? What do you think'll happen today?

People will get this message that we're saying.

It's busy.

WOMAN: I don't know what you've been told.

-GROUP:

-I don't know what you've been told.

Violence kills both young and old.

Violence kills both young and old.

'They are joining other grieving families

'all trying to break the wall of silence

'around the deaths of their loved ones.'

HORNS SOUND

-Ceasefire.

-Ceasefire.

Sort of goes without saying...

that any type of march that involves so many people that have lost

so many of their kids and so many of their brothers and sisters,

it's really moving.

-Don't shoot.

-We want to grow up.

There's thousands of Hardmons, thousands of baby Ashleys...

-I don't know what you've been told.

-I don't know what you've been told.

..have been through exactly the same thing. It's mad.

Violence kills both young and old.

I am the mother of a homicide victim.

My daughter was 19 years old.

We just need to come together and break the silent code.

But when you walk in my shoes one day,

you're going to want someone to say, "Hey, I saw this, I saw that."

Since my daughter's death, there's been so many.

Many more shootings and killings and it's just ridiculous,

and someone needs to be held accountable for it.

Ashley had a future.

Everybody had a future that had a bullet into that future.

So what's the end to it? What's the stop to it?

Anybody got a question, nobody knows.

What makes you not think that my sister didn't have a future?

For every one of the people that died, rest in peace.

Amen, man.

Your mum's proud, Dad's proud, Latasia's proud.

I know.

Everyone was clapping. I'm sure Ashley would have been proud.

Mm-hmm. I know she is.

I'm yet to meet a person in the whole of Chicago

who doesn't know someone who's been shot or killed.

In the UK, it's astounding if you do know someone.

There's some places you go to and you think, you know,

"Has it been painted in a certain way?

"Everything's been exaggerated?"

Not here.

Not at all.

If anything, it's being downplayed...

..because we should all know the situation here.