While many associate the Fourth of July weekend with fireworks and barbecues, residents of Chicago will remember this past holiday weekend with something far more unfortunate: a stark rise in gun violence.
According to The Chicago Tribune, there were at least 82 shootings in the Second City during an 84-hour stretch between Thursday afternoon and Monday morning, 14 of which were fatal. Of the 14 fatal shootings, five people were shot by cops over a 36-hour period from Friday to Saturday.
The news is the latest instance that highlights Chicago’s continued struggle with gun violence. The city leads the nation in homicides. The FBI recorded 500 murders in 2012, earning it the unwanted title of the murder capital of the United States.
The deadliest stretch during the holiday weekend occurred over a 13-hour period between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning when four people were killed and at least another 26 were injured — many of whom are currently in critical condition. The victims ranged in age, from a 14-year-old boy shot by the police for refusing to drop his handgun, to a 66-year-old woman grazed in the head by a bullet while walking up the steps of her front porch in Far South Side.
Chicago’s continued struggles with gun violence has prompted mayor Rahm Emanuel to propose drastic limits on gun sales within the city.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/holiday-weekend-brings-relief-murder-capital/
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