At Least 100 People Shot, 15 Fatally, Over July 4 Holiday Weekend
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jul 5, 2017 2:55PM
At least 101 people were shot, 15 fatally, over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to the Tribune's tally.
The Independence Day weekend has traditionally been a violent stretch in Chicago, although 2016 in fact saw a dip in shooting deaths. Last year's holiday weekend—which was one day shorter—saw four people fatally shot and 64 injured in shootings across the city. According to the Trib, shootings were up this year compared to the most recent four-day Fourth of July weekend, which fell in 2013: 74 people were shot, 12 fatally that year.
Two men, 56 and 19, were were shot in the most recent incident, in the 1600 block of North Major at around 8:14 p.m. The 56-year-old man, who was not the intended target, was taken to Loyola Medical Center where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head, police said. The 19-year-old was shot in the back and taken to Loyola, where he was listed in serious condition.
Police announced late last week that some 1,000 additional officers would be on patrol during the Independence Day weekend. The announcement came as the Department of Justice and law enforcement announced the new Chicago Crime Gun Strike Force, which brings 20 new permanent ATF agents to the city. President Donald Trump tweeted that Chicago crime has reached "epidemic proportions" ahead of the Task Force announcement.