High temperatures helped raise the number of weekend casualties in Chicago up to 51 wounded and seven killed, topping the number from the same weekend in both 2015 and 2014.
Between about Friday noon and early Monday morning, Chicago’s temperatures exceeded 85 degrees with high humidity. That caused residents of the usually ‘Windy City’ to endure sweltering conditions.
On Friday, the city saw three killed from the city’s incessant gang warfare. But it was Saturday that saw the worst bloodletting, even as only one was killed. There were twenty eight shootings with one death, with many of the incidents featuring multiple victims.
There were two victims in a 12:40 AM shooting in Garfield Park, two at 1 AM in West Ridge, four victims at a shooting in Morgan Park, two more in a second Garfield Park shooting, three in Englewood just before 7 PM, and two victims at 11 PM in West Town.
Sunday saw slightly fewer shootings, but far more deaths — 20 shootings with three dead. One shooting saw the death of a 55-year-old man who was shot multiple times while attending a birthday party in Garfield Park. Two others were wounded in the same incident.
Two more shootings occurred very early on Monday, but no deaths were recorded.
The highest concentration of shootings occurred once again in the City’s Harrison District, where 270 citizens have already been wounded this year.
The number of incidents and killings far outpaces the same weekend from 2014 and 2015. In 2014, the city 42 wounded and two killed. In 2015, the score was 24 wounded and five killed.
The shootings in Chicago are decimating a generation of young black males , partly because 82 percent of the casualties are male. This year, 1,375 men have been wounded and 285 have killed in Chicago, while 146 females have been wounded and 26 killed. That’s 311 dead so far, and the year is not yet half done.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.