CHICAGO (WLS) – A violent weekend kicked off the unofficial start of summer in Chicago. It was one of the most violent Memorial Day weekends we’ve had in years.
Although Chicago police took additional steps before the Memorial Day holiday, including the cancellation of rest days, 47 people were shot between Friday and Monday. Nine of them died.
The death toll this year is three times the same as last weekend, when 32 people were shot and three died.
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But with the city now fully open and about 40 major events attracting hundreds of thousands of people to the center over the weekend, the Chicago police supervisor. David Brown said on Tuesday that violent crime has gone down.
“Our work is never done, it is never done. A crime is too much,” said the Chicago police supervisor. said David Brown. “Our results so far have stood out with this hard work.”
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In one of the most recent shootings, police said a 19-year-old woman riding a bicycle near DuSable Harbor was shot around 10 p.m. by a man who had been calling her. She was hit in the thigh and taken to hospital in good condition.
A couple of shootings this weekend in River North left three people injured, and on the West Side, there were two mass shootings that left several people injured and one person dead.
“I want to start by also thanking the Chicago Police Department police officers for their dedicated work during the holiday weekend and throughout the summer, and many lost moments with their family over the weekend,” he said. Brown.
Brown took into account the count of incidents and said that despite the violence this weekend, homicides have dropped 8.53% from a year ago and shootings have dropped 15.9%. He said the weapons are being used to resolve personal and small disputes.
“We’re flooded with guns, here and in every major city,” Brown said. “I don’t miss the fact that several cities in this country had several shootings, a great deal of victimization everywhere.”
The incident occurred as part of the mayor’s and the superintendent’s police’s holiday security plan, which had been in place for months and included more officers on the street, canceled days off and longer days off. ‘usual.
With the arrival of Father’s Day weekend, the department announced on Tuesday that the rest days have already been canceled from Tuesday 14th June to Tuesday 21st June.
Forty-six new officers were sworn in on Tuesday, with 100 more recruits graduating soon. But the CPD wants more like Officer Aja Ellis, a new West Side police recruit in the city.
“My impact, because I’m from the communities I serve, is to be expected to inspire not only the community, but also my 9-year-old daughter,” Ellis said.
“We could always use more officers, but as you know, all the police departments in the country are struggling to find new recruits,” Brown said. “We are about to fill our vacancies sooner rather than later.”
Many of the shootings over the weekend took place in neighborhoods heavily affected by armed violence.
In Lawndale, five people were injured after gunmen opened fire on a crowd commemorating the anniversary of the murder of another teenager. A 16-year-old girl was among those injured in the Sunday morning shooting on 800 Island South Karlov Avenue. On the street, outside Daniel Webster Elementary School, carcasses and at least 97 test markers could be seen.
One man was killed and four others were injured in a house incident in Humboldt Park on Sunday. The shooting sparked a clash with a police SWAT team. A 23-year-old gunman was arrested more than an hour later and treated for a gunshot wound, police said.
Other deadly shootings over the weekend between 5pm on Friday and 5am on Tuesday:
Three men were injured, one was killed in a shooting Monday in Burnside on the south side. They were near a sidewalk around 7:45 p.m. on the 1300 block of East 93rd Street when someone opened fire, police said. A 25-year-old man was shot in the chest and died at Trinity Hospital. Another 26-year-old man was also shot in the chest and taken to hospital in critical condition. The third man, aged 27, was shot in the body and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center. His condition was not disclosed.
A man was shot dead Monday in Gresham, on the south side. At around 5pm, the 26-year-old was on the 8600 block of South Aberdeen Street when he was shot several times, police said. He was taken to Christ Lawn Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead.
Also Monday, a man was killed in a shooting in Englewood on the south side. He was inside a residence around 2:50 p.m. on Block 6900 South Green Street when someone opened fire and hit him in the face and abdomen, police said. The 31-year-old died at the scene.
Jeremy Benson, 33, was shot dead Sunday morning while driving through the West Garfield Park neighborhood, authorities said. He was shot while driving on the 4400 block of West Madison Street and crashed into a stocking, police said. He died at Mount Sinai Hospital.
A man died early Sunday in Englewood when a gunshot exploded during a birthday party. The shooting caused hundreds of people to rush to the 5700 block of South Carpenter Street. A 24-year-old man was shot dead at the scene. Police placed a white cloth over the man, who was lying on a sidewalk near the test markers. “They won’t even let me see her body,” the man’s mother said. “At least they could let me hold his hand.”
Hours earlier, two men were killed in a shooting in Englewood, police said. The shooting took place Saturday at 5 p.m. on Block 5500 South Bishop Street, police said. The two men were pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center. One of the men was identified as Derrick Washington, 29. The other man was 38.
On Saturday afternoon, a man was killed on Chicago Lawn, on the southwest side. He was shot in the head around 1:30 p.m. at 2400 West 63rd Street, police said. He died at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Police have not given further details.
Last weekend, one person was killed and 26 others were injured in shootings across the city.
Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
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