While the rest if the nation celebrated America’s independence, Chicago residents were busy doing what they are slowly becoming known for – shooting each other. The holiday weekend left 60 people shot, 9 killed.
The first fatal shooting occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Friday, kicking the weekend off to a violent start. Corey Hudson, 34, was killed in a drive-by shooting. Hudson was fatally shot, while his friend was left wounded. There were also three police-involved shootings on July 4th alone, leaving one suspect dead.
While the soaring violence in Chicago is no new issue, the city has been working to actively combat and reduce gun violence in recent years – especially after one of its bloodiest years in 2012, when Chicago was the only city in the country to record over 500 homicides.
“We will keep building on our strategy, putting more officers on the street in summer months, proactively intervening in gang conflicts, partnering with community leaders,” Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said in a statement.
To bring down the murder rate, police have been dispatched by the hundreds to some of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Although this strategy appeared to be working in 2013 when homicides fell to 415, Chicago still had one of the highest murder rates in the country.
The Chicago Tribune updated its tally of shootings in the Windy City to 1,129 so far for this year. But it’s still less than 2013, which saw over 2,000 shootings
