Hanover Park Mayor Rod Craig spent his Sunday afternoon going door-to-door in his village of 38,000 to reassure residents after the northwest suburb reported a suspected third murder in three days -- and the fourth in two weeks.
“All we are talking about are these acts of violence," Craig told the Sun-Times. "This is tearing the town up.”
Craig said there were two homicides in all of 2008 in the village, but in a typical year, there are none, he said.
A woman found dead in her home on Sunday is the most recent case, and early indications are that her death was likely a homicide.
On Saturday, a 23-year-old man was stabbed to death at what Craig referred to as "a graduation party ... gone bad."
On June 4, a pregnant woman and her unborn child were beaten to death by the woman's boyfriend. A 32-year-old man has been charged in that case.
A 16-year-old boy was shot dead in the village on May 23. Craig said that incident appeared to be gang-related.
“It’s a breakdown in the moral fiber, a breakdown in how people are responding [to] domestic violence," the mayor said. "People are having a lot of stress because of the economy, families are breaking up.”
Hanover Park is a quiet, peaceful place -- normally. The mayor wants to get back to that place and is urging residents to believe it will happen.
