Several large groups of young adults and juveniles swarmed downtown Friday and Saturday night as three teenagers were wounded in two separate shootings leading to 16 related arrests and sparking concern from activists and local officials about how to deal with the fallout of crime, especially as warmer weather looms.

“I don’t feel safe in my city anymore,” said Raul Montes, a Little Village activist who held a news conference Monday afternoon to demand Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson reinforce the city’s 10 p.m. curfew for teens enacted in May last year by City Council following a teen’s fatal shooting at The Bean in Millennium Park.

But Anjanette Young, a social worker and activist who was victim to a botched 2019 Chicago police raid, said her immediate reaction to what happened over the weekend was “disappointment that we are in this space again.” The response to these situations is not to limit youth even further by implementing a curfew, Young said, but instead to invest in them.

“If we had better community services, our youth wouldn’t gather in one common place but in different places where resources are available,” Young said. “Our young people want to be heard and want to feel safe, but we are doing a very poor job in the city of Chicago at giving them those safe spaces.”

Chicago police said officers responded to groups of youth near 31st Street Beach Friday night and downtown near Millennium Park Saturday night “engaging in reckless and disruptive behavior putting themselves and the public at risk for harm.”

Nine adults and six juveniles were arrested as a result from the swarm on Saturday night. Most of the Saturday charges were for reckless conduct; however, a 16-year-old boy was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon and a firearm was recovered, police said. An adult and a juvenile were also charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested after the Friday gathering and charged with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon, one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, one felony count of possession of a stolen firearm and at least two other charges, police said.

“Everyone is welcome and encouraged to enjoy all that Chicago has to offer including the popular downtown area, but criminal activity will never be tolerated. Those engaged in criminal activity will be arrested and held accountable,” the statement from police said.

The groups of youth gathering over the weekend appeared to be a cause-and-effect reaction as three teenagers were wounded in the two separate weekend shootings. A 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy were transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition after they were shot in the 0-100 block of East Washington Street near Millennium Park around 9:05 p.m. Saturday, Chicago police said. The boys were in a crowd of people when they were shot by an unknown gunman. The 16-year-old had a gunshot wound to the right arm, and the 17-year-old had a gunshot wound in the left leg, police said.

A 14-year-old boy was shot near the 31st Street Beach gathering Friday night, police said. He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital with a gunshot wound to the left thigh. The 17-year-old boy arrested after Friday’s gathering was not charged in the shooting of the 14-year-old.

Police said Monday the investigations into the shootings are ongoing.

Chicago Loop Alliance President and CEO Michael Edwards said in a statement while Saturday night’s events are “not a frequent occurrence,” the organization is “prepared to work with all relevant partners and parties in response to when these trends are detected.”

“We are saddened by the events that occurred in the Loop Saturday evening and are in communication with the Chicago Police Department and other entities,” Edwards said. “Our Chicago Loop Alliance ambassadors and unarmed security remained vigilant of the situation throughout the night.”

Young said big issues have nothing to do with “demonizing our children,” but instead are a lack of resources for youth, and their access to illegal weapons.

“What I see is an effort to find a space where they can gather together and enjoy the city, but oftentimes, it turns into a bigger crowd than probably expected and then when large crowds get together and it’s unorganized, things happen,” Young said.

Young continued: “If we can spend millions of dollars bringing a casino downtown, millions of dollars to bring NASCAR to the city for whatever reason, we can be equally committed to building resources in all of our communities, like boys and girls clubs, basketball courts, parks, to start reaching our young people where they are at in a way that they feel supported.”

Arseny Acosta, 17, a member of GoodKids MadCity, said that a lack of resources and safe spaces for teens in their communities pushes them to find a place to have fun, in this case downtown.

“They don’t have anything else to keep them off occupied, the only nice place is downtown,” Acosta said.

A spokesman for Johnson said the mayor-elect is committed to investing in the city’s youth through jobs and safe spaces.

“Youth in Chicago have experienced disinvestment for years, and the consequences of that have been seen and felt for longer than any one mayor has been in office. What has been constant is an approach to the problem focused on containment and policing, rather than prevention and investment,” said Ronnie Reese, a spokesman for Johnson. “Our administration’s goal is to double the number of youth jobs in our city, make young people feel like they truly have a place in our economy, and prevent violent gatherings like the one this weekend before they happen. That’s a long-overdue approach, and it’s one the people of Chicago voted for.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also weighed in with statement on Sunday.

Lightfoot said the “city cannot and will not allow any of our public spaces to become a platform for criminal conduct. Most importantly, parents and guardians must know where their children are and be responsible for their actions. Instilling the important values of respect for people and property must begin at home.”