Chicago suffers deadly wave of violence
August 6, 2018
Police in Chicago said that a spate of deadly shootings over the weekend left at least 10 people dead and at least 59 wounded. The violence peaked early Sunday with several shootings, including one in a courtyard on the city's south side that injured eight people.
Police attributed the shootings to gangs. Patrol Chief Fred Waller said that gang members are using large summer crowds as cover in some cases. "They take advantage of that opportunity and they shoot into a crowd, no matter who they hit," he said.
Police have said that violent crime has declined overall. However, anti-violence protesters recently shut down freeways in Chicago to voice their outrage.
Chicago has had problems
Chicago saw fewer homicides in 2016 than in 2017; 650 and 771 respectively.
Although the drop was significant, the total still exceeded the combined the number of killings in New York City and Los Angeles, which are the two US cities bigger than Chicago.
The gun violence in Chicago has drawn widespread attention, including from President Donald Trump and his lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In a series of tweets on Sunday and Monday, Giuliani blamed the problem on Chicago's longtime "Democratic rule."
The former New York City mayor also tweeted his support for Chicago's former superintendent, Garry McCarthy, who plans to run for mayor next February against Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who fired McCarthy in 2015 after the release of dashcam video showing a white police officer shoot a black teenager16 times.
Giuliani also falsely claimed that Chicago had "63 murders this weekend."
av/rc (AP, Reuters)