Chicago Just Saw Its 500th Homicide Of The Year

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Sep 18, 2017 2:48PM

With summer still technically not quite over, Chicago has seen over 500 homicides so far this year, according to data from the Tribune.

Though the number is appalling, homicides are down slightly from 2016's record; the city reached 500 homicides by Labor Day Weekend last year, but homicides are down by about 7 percent now, depending on how you calculate them. The Tribune tracks homicides, including cases in which the person's slaying is considered justifiable. The Chicago Police Department's tally is a little lower, with 486 homicides recorded this year, compared to 521 by this time last year, because their tally typically doesn't include killings by police officers, killings on the expressways or self-defense. The numbers are grim no matter how you slice them: at least 2,718 people have been shot in the city overall this year, down from 3,066 last year.

This year's 500th homicide, which the Tribune profiled in their story on the numbers, was Juan Bahena Jr., a 24-year-old who was sitting in his car at the intersection of 24th Street and Western Avenue near Little Village when someone in another car drove by and opened fire on him at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Bahena was among at least 10 people killed and 31 more wounded in shootings around the city this weekend, according to NBC. That includes a 42-year-old woman fatally shot in the head in Chicago Lawn Sunday night and a pregnant woman fatally shot by a high-powered rifle while sitting in a car Friday evening in the 4700 block of South Fairfield Avenue, according to police.