By Jennifer Keiper, WLS-AM 890 News
(CHICAGO) How bad was the holiday violence in Chicago? Police say that an eruption of gun violence after the official end of the 4th of July weekend left nearly as many people dead, in a few hours, as were killed between Friday afternoon and midnight Tuesday.
Chicago police say that from Friday evening until midnight Tuesday there were more than 55 shooting incidents and 8 homicides. However, between midnight and 6 a.m. Wednesday, there were another 15 shooting incidents and 6 homicides.
The shootings came as the department says it put more than 1,300 extra officers on the street.
“This boils down to what we’ve been talking about for some time now, a real need for a culture of accountability among gun offenders, in this city. That has been repeated time after time. While our efforts are a deterrent , if we don’t create a culture where someone thinks twice before picking up a gun, we’ll see this cycle continue,” said Chicago Police First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro.
The Reverend Ira Acree makes a plea to residents saying, “The sad reality is fourteen people got killed and somebody, in our neighborhood, knows something about it – speak up.”
During last year’s July 4th weekend – one day shorter than this year’s – 50 people were shot, three fatally.
@ 2017 WLS-AM News
