http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6091849
31 people shot over weekend, at least 6 killed
CHICAGO (WLS) -- By ABC 7 News' count, there have now been 31 people shot in Chicago since Friday. Six people have died.
A 12-year-old and a 14-year-old were among those wounded. Authorities say the boys were shot about 11:30 p.m. Saturday in the 5300 block of West Madison. One of them was hurt critically.
As crews were responding to that shooting, a third person was shot, just around the corner. And just 40 minutes earlier, three men were shot, less than a block away.
Sunday afternoon, police superintendent Jody Weis again called for more common sense gun legislation to combat the problem. Police tried to put the numbers in context Sunday and also talk a little bit about the measures they are taking to try and stem the gun violence in Chicago.
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The victims of the weekend's gun violence range in age from 12 - 65. Police say they include innocents and gang members alike. Of the more than 26 injured since midnight Thursday, six have died, including 34-year-old Marcus Hendricks and 65-year-old Ricardo Sanchez.
"It is very alarming. I just got back from out of town and to hear that number over a weekend, and summer has not hit yet, so we can just imagine what the summer is going to look like," said Dr. Sharon Latiker, private school superintendent.
Chicago Police Department Superintendent Jody Weis responded to the numbers and put them in context compared to the same weekend the previous two years. They are, in fact, pretty similar.
"In 2007 during the same weekend period there 19 shootings. Four of them resulted in homicides. In 2006 during the same weekend period in April there were 21 shooting," said Weis.
To get an even better perspective on the gun violence in Chicago, we've taken a look at the number of homicides citywide, most of which are gun related. Put into context, it is true that the number of murders has declined significantly over the last 10 years, from a total of 761 in 1997 to 443 in 2007.
However, compared to the nation's two largest cities, Chicago doesn't fare too well. New York had 496 murders in 2007. Los Angeles had 349. Both L.A. and New York have significantly larger populations. So, proportionally speaking, Chicago has a homicide rate 3 times higher than New York and nearly 70 percent higher than L.A.
"You just have too many guns and too many gangs and too much drugs on the street," said Weis. "I don't really like to compare different cities because we can find different ones that will have a greater murder rate per capita than Chicago has. I think we need to just focus on Chicago and do whatever we can to take the weapons off the street."
Weis also said that the police department is taking certain steps to accelerate they usually reserve for the summer months to combat crimes. Some of those measures include adding more officers onto the street and redistributing their strength to areas that are particularly high in gun violence.
31 people shot over weekend, at least 6 killed
CHICAGO (WLS) -- By ABC 7 News' count, there have now been 31 people shot in Chicago since Friday. Six people have died.
A 12-year-old and a 14-year-old were among those wounded. Authorities say the boys were shot about 11:30 p.m. Saturday in the 5300 block of West Madison. One of them was hurt critically.
As crews were responding to that shooting, a third person was shot, just around the corner. And just 40 minutes earlier, three men were shot, less than a block away.
Sunday afternoon, police superintendent Jody Weis again called for more common sense gun legislation to combat the problem. Police tried to put the numbers in context Sunday and also talk a little bit about the measures they are taking to try and stem the gun violence in Chicago.
Story continues below
Advertisement
The victims of the weekend's gun violence range in age from 12 - 65. Police say they include innocents and gang members alike. Of the more than 26 injured since midnight Thursday, six have died, including 34-year-old Marcus Hendricks and 65-year-old Ricardo Sanchez.
"It is very alarming. I just got back from out of town and to hear that number over a weekend, and summer has not hit yet, so we can just imagine what the summer is going to look like," said Dr. Sharon Latiker, private school superintendent.
Chicago Police Department Superintendent Jody Weis responded to the numbers and put them in context compared to the same weekend the previous two years. They are, in fact, pretty similar.
"In 2007 during the same weekend period there 19 shootings. Four of them resulted in homicides. In 2006 during the same weekend period in April there were 21 shooting," said Weis.
To get an even better perspective on the gun violence in Chicago, we've taken a look at the number of homicides citywide, most of which are gun related. Put into context, it is true that the number of murders has declined significantly over the last 10 years, from a total of 761 in 1997 to 443 in 2007.
However, compared to the nation's two largest cities, Chicago doesn't fare too well. New York had 496 murders in 2007. Los Angeles had 349. Both L.A. and New York have significantly larger populations. So, proportionally speaking, Chicago has a homicide rate 3 times higher than New York and nearly 70 percent higher than L.A.
"You just have too many guns and too many gangs and too much drugs on the street," said Weis. "I don't really like to compare different cities because we can find different ones that will have a greater murder rate per capita than Chicago has. I think we need to just focus on Chicago and do whatever we can to take the weapons off the street."
Weis also said that the police department is taking certain steps to accelerate they usually reserve for the summer months to combat crimes. Some of those measures include adding more officers onto the street and redistributing their strength to areas that are particularly high in gun violence.
