Chicago Violence Rises With The Heat
In less than a week, 61 people were shot in the volatile city
In recent months Chicago’s gun violence took a small, but noticeable dip, however as the weather became warmer, the streets heated up in the worst way with some 61 people fatally shot as of Monday.
In recent months Chicago’s gun violence took a small, but noticeable dip, however as the weather became warmer, the streets heated up in the worst way with some 61 people fatally shot as of Monday.
The troubling trend of recent shootings has city officials on edge with the sudden ripple of violence across the nation’s third largest city, reports USA Today.
And they fear it’s an ominous sign of what’s to come this summer season.
Short-Lived Hope For Better
According to police department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. April was the 14th consecutive month Chicago saw gun violence decrease. That was promising until this week.
While April’s weather was pretty cold in the windy city, this first week of May was relatively warm and sadly that’s when the city saw an uptick of violent activity.
According to reports, 15 people were shot between Friday evening and sunrise Saturday.
Some of the crimes that took place recently include:
- An ATF agent was shot in the face on the Southwest side while pursuing a suspect.
- On Thursday a man was shot after being thrown from a vehicle and died at a local hospital.
- A gang-related drive-by shooting where a 41-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy were wounded.
- A 4-year-old girl was shot in the shoulder while sitting on her porch.
- A 41-year-old man was shot while lying in bed in his apartment – The shot came from an adjacent apartment.
- A 15-year-old boy was shot in the head on his way home from school. The boy travels daily to the other side of city to attend a highly-selective school
Chicago’s elevated gun activity continues to prompt community activists and organizations to rally for stricter gun control laws, demanding more of the government to protect its residents.
“It infuriates me that we have a good kid doing what we all expect him to do, and he’s a victim of something like this,” Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
“This is why we have to have common sense gun legislation in this country. Not just this city, this state, but in this country, to stop things like this from happening.”
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Chicago had 650 homicides in 2017, the most in the nation, according to USA Today. While Chicago Police Department were optimistic about a downward trend and are still concerned, they believe the advanced technology they invested millions in, will aid them greatly in combating crime.
