Avondale faces gang retaliation after rally to take back streets - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Some residents who live in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood on the North West Side say it's time to let gang members know who belongs on the block. They said they're in the middle of a turf war, and they want the gangs to know who has the upper hand.

So they put together a "Stop the Violence" rally and when residents came out, so did rival gangs.

And when residents called the police, the gang members did whatever they could to scare them.

"There's not much that we can really do, but at least people are out there and making themselves heard," Brendan Regan said.

Residents say after the rally -- and after gang members saw who was brave enough to stand up to them and their property was damaged. The retaliation involved busted car windows, shattered glass on some houses, and graffiti was sprayed on garbage cans and garage doors and on the side of some houses. Avondale residents in the 2900 block of Ridgeway say this is what happens when gang members feel like they have a real fight on the their hands.

This month, residents say there have been more than a dozen shootings in this neighborhood.

One resident was so afraid of further retaliation she didn't want to show her face on camera.

"They were saying, 'You need to stop calling the police because this is their neighborhood,'" she said. "While they were throwing rocks and bottles, we thought they were shooting at the window."