Wednesday Is Being Called The Deadliest Day In Chicago Since 2003
By Kate Shepherd in News on Sep 4, 2015 6:11PM
At least nine people were shot and killed in Chicago on Wednesday, making it the single deadliest day in Chicago since July 5, 2003 when 10 people were killed in homicides, according to an analysis by the Tribune.
Sadly, it's normal for Chicago to have several homicides in one day, particularly in the summer. It's unusual for so many shootings occur in so many different neighborhoods in one day, Robert Tracy Chicago police's chief of crime control strategies told the Tribune.
"If you look at the numbers... these shootings took place in different parts of the city," he said to the Tribune. "None of the shootings were connected. They were in eight different districts. It's unfortunate to have this many murders in one day. Is this the worst it has been? No. We've got to put it into perspective."
Homicides in Chicago are up by about 20 percent this year over 2014, as of Aug. 23. Rates are spiking in cities across the country. Los Angeles just had its deadliest August in eight years, mostly fueled by gang violence. DC is having a summer full of violence. Milwaukee and St. Louis have also seen a rise in homicides.
Gun violence kills an average of 31 people every day and 198 are shot and survive, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Shootings have increased by about 18-percent in Chicago this year.
"The fact that we lost lives [Wednesday] night is devastating and underscores why the Chicago Police Department is adamant that the city holds gun offenders accountable," CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Tribune.
WGN covered Wednesday's accidental shooting death of 11-year-old Antwone Price, which is not classified as a homicide. Price found a gun on the street and it accidentally discharged when he handed it to his 19-year-old uncle, his relatives told WGN.
He had just started sixth grade at Comer College Prep Middle School about a week ago.
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Tragically, Price had already lost his father and grandfather to gun violence. His father Antwone Price Sr., 30, was shot and killed in May 2013 and his grandfather was fatally shot in 2000.
-NBC Chicago listed and summarized all of Wednesday’s shootings, including the non-fatal ones.