In the Windy City, almost 3,000 people have been shot so far this year. The city already had the bloodiest start to a new year in two decades, with more than 100 people shot in the first ten days of 2016. Since then, it’s been dotted with bloody weekends. The Labor Day weekend was no different; it was the most violent month the city has seen since 1997. At the time of the Chicago Tribune article (Aug. 29), 487 people had been killed; that number has since hit 500. It’s a grim milestone:
The city hasn't seen a deadlier month since October of 1997, when there were 79 homicides. For the whole year, the count was 761, according to department numbers.Chicago has recorded 487 homicides and more than 2,800 people shot so far this year, compared to 491 homicides and 2,988 people shot all of last year, according to Tribune data.
Chicago has a lower homicide rate than many other U.S. cities that are smaller in population. But this year, the city has recorded more homicides and shooting victims than New York City and Los Angeles combined, even though the two cities are larger than Chicago's population of roughly 2.7 million.
New York, with more than three times the population of Chicago, has recorded 760 shooting victims and logged 222 homicides, according to NYPD crime statistics through Aug. 21. In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million, 176 people have been slain and 729 people shot, according to LAPD crime data through Aug. 20.
And no one is safe. Security camera footage found this disturbing attack on a senior citizen. The victim, 71-year-old Federico LaGuardia, can be seen doing simple yard work when two men ride up on bikes, shooting him before taking his wallet. LaGuardia was able to get a neighbor to call for help.
President Obama is said to be concerned about the levels of violence in the city, but doesn’t have any proposals from a federal standpoint to deal with the issues. In the meantime, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed new legislation stiffening penalties for gun law violations
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