At least 14 people have been shot within 15 hours in Chicago as the city’s recent spate of violence continued from the weekend into the work week.
Six people were killed in the shootings since mid-day Monday, including a pregnant woman and her mother, who were fatally shot in the Back of the Yards neighborhood while coming home from an outing with family. The woman’s 11-month-old baby was also among three people wounded in the shooting.
Five other people were shot, three of them fatally, in a separate shooting early Tuesday morning at a barbecue in the city’s Fuller Park neighborhood.
The shootings come after a violent weekend in Chicago that left four people dead and at least 52 others injured. The weekend marked the second weekend in a row where more than 50 people were shot.
Chicago Polic Supt. Garry McCarthy said during a press conference Tuesday that police are following up on "promising leads" in both cases.
"I apologize for my frustration and my anger but there comes a time when this has to stop," McCarthy said.
According to a Chicago Tribune analysis, at least 2,300 people have been shot in the city so far this year, roughly 400 more than in the same period last year.
Last month, the New York Times reported Chicago saw the sixth highest murder rate increase so far this year when compared with other U.S. cities. The report indicated the city had 294 murders by the end of August, a 20 percent increase from 2014. According to Chicago police data, that number rose to 349 as of Sept. 20, up 21 percent from the year before.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday that he was "angry" about the recent shootings in the city.
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"I'm going to try to control my anger," he said. "We have way too many guns in the city of Chicago."
Emanuel also called for stricter gun laws and tougher penalties for shooting convictions.
"I think I speak for everybody when I say enough is enough," he said.
That sentiment was echoed by McCarthy, who claimed that the penalties for shooting convictions aren't enough to stop the city's violence.
"Chicago’s got to wake up," he said. "We’ve got to stop saying it’s OK to have 30, 40, 50 people shot over a weekend. Oh my god look we’re setting records... The number one issue in the city of Chicago should be gun violence because as the mayor rightfully points out, a shooting in Englewood should affect people in Ravenswood, it should affect people in Sauganash, it should affect people in Edgewater, it should affect people across the city of Chicago and we need to do something about it."
In addition to the Fuller Park and Back of the Yards shootings, a teen was killed and three others, including a 2-year-old boy were wounded in shootings across the city since Monday morning.
- Just before 11 a.m., an 18-year-old man was shot multiple times in the 100 block of North Kedzie Avenue. The teen was shot in the chest and arm and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital by a friend, where he was later pronounced dead.
- Around 9:30 p.m. Monday, a 21-year-old man was shot while standing on the street in the 5100 block of South Prairie Avenue. The man was shot in the left shoulder and was taken to Stroger Hospital in stable condition.
- A 26-year-old man was shot just before 11 p.m. while riding a bike in the 7100 block of South Winchester Avenue. Police said a man opened fire from a gangway, hitting the bicyclist in the back. The victim was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition.
- Around 1:45 a.m., a 2-year-old boy suffered a graze wound to the leg after being accidentally shot in a home in the 7000 block of South Harper. The boy was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good condition.
