Chicago Now Has Not Gone A Day Without A Shooting For 2 Years

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Mar 2, 2017 3:21PM

Chicago's gun violence tally is grim no matter how you slice it—Chicago has logged 44 murders for the month of February, and 167 other shooting incidents, according to new Chicago Police Department data.

The numbers have been trending up for a couple years now, but as the city's police force struggles to tamp down on shootings, the city has come under increased national scrutiny thanks to the fear-mongering comments of President Donald Trump, who has falsely likened Chicago to a war zone.

Unfortunately, Chicago passed another grim gun violence milestone of sorts the other day. It has officially been over two full years since the city went a day without a shooting.

Feb. 28, 2015—a colder day than Chicago's current Winter In Name Only—no one was reported shot in the city. By comparison, on this year's stormy but relatively warm Feb. 28, at least six people were shot, according to http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/It-Has-Been-2-Years-Since-No-One-Was-Shot-in-Chicago-415149373.html">the Tribune, including a 71-year-old and a 33-year-old man who were both shot in the feet while standing on the street in Gage Park after people inside a car drove by and opened fire, and a 29-year-old man shot in the stomach in Austin.

Chicago's violence has continued to troublingly outpace last year's unusually high year; the Tribune's tally shows the city has logged over 103 homicides this year and over 513 shootings, compared to 101 and 466 by the end of February last year.