The warm weather has now firmly taken hold of the Windy City, bringing residents to parks and the lakefront, but along with the welcome warmth some neighborhoods have also seen a rise in violence. Since Friday 22 residents have been shot and three killed in Chicago.
On Friday Chicago saw temperatures in the mid 50s, but the city also saw five shootings. One of those shot on Saturday was a 14-year-old boy. The boy was shot in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Police say he is a known gang member.
The shootings continued apace during the rest of the weekend, and by the time Saturday was over, the tally mirrored Friday’s with another five wounded.
Sunday’s list, though, was much higher, more than double what occurred on the previous two days combined. Worse, three people were killed during Sunday’s violence.
Two of the deaths occurred near the 5800 block of North Avenue. Both were shot while sitting in a car. Police report that the assailants perpetrated a drive by shooting, killing two men, one 20 and the other a 30-year-old.
The third death happened in the city’s Portage Park neighborhood at 12:52 PM, where a man was shot in the head and killed. Police say it may have also been a drive by shooting.
Thus far in March, 95 have been shot and 10 killed. There have also been three others killed by means other than shooting. That makes 319 shot since the first of the year, of which 54 died.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com