More People Shot in Chicago This Weekend Than Previous Three-Day Weekend: At Least 52 Shot, 8 Dead

Nick Kangadis | June 3, 2019
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Typically, the number of shootings decrease in cities the weekend following a three-day holiday weekend. Unfortunately for the city of Chicago, that wasn’t the case.

Less than a week removed from a Memorial Day weekend that saw at least 43 people shot, with seven dying from their wounds, the Windy City topped that in a weekend that had one less day to it.

An astounding 52 people were shot, “at least,” in what the Chicago Tribune called the “most violent weekend in Chicago this year.” Out of those 52 people, at least eight have been pronounced dead.

What was even more insane about this past weekend’s violence was that 31 of the people shot were wounded within a 12-hour period, with four dying as a result.

Here’s an example of this past weekend’s violence, according to the Tribune:

Two men were found dead around 6 a.m. inside a car hit by at least a dozen bullet holes in the 100 block of West North Avenue, according to Chicago police.

The driver, Tavion Matthews, 22, was shot several times in the back and a passenger, Marcus Walker Jr., 25, also suffered several gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Most of the reports of those who were shot over the weekend involve persons who are 28-years-old or younger. That’s a disturbing trend that doesn’t speak well for the future.

While the increase in shootings is something Chicago city officials would like to see head in the opposite direction, there were some slight positives that happened over the weekend.

Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent Eddie Johnson reportedly ordered “targeted patrols” in areas that house high levels of gang activity.

“Those efforts have resulted in 19 arrests on gun-related charges and 81 illegal weapons seized since Friday evening,” CPD chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

Reports of increased shootings isn’t what CPD officials, or new Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, were looking for, but when the CPD can get dozens of illegal weapons off the streets, it’s at least a small victory in the face of such violence.

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