Dozens injured, nine dead in bloody holiday weekend in Chicago
The Fourth of July holiday weekend brought an explosion of gunfire to Chicago, with roughly 50 people shot and nine killed, authorities said on Monday.
The violence was so widespread in the nation's third-largest city during the period from Thursday through Sunday that police were still tallying the dead and wounded on Monday, but a Chicago Police Department spokesman said the current count was 49 shooting incidents with nine dead. The spokesman did not give details on the number of people shot.
At a news conference Monday morning, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy called the violence "unacceptable," blaming it in part on a "proliferation of firearms."
Police said five people were shot by officers, and at least two of them were killed.
In three of the incidents, the victims had pointed weapons at officers when they were shot, the Chicago Police Department said in a statement. A fourth man was shot and seriously wounded by police after he told them he had a weapon, police said. There were 21 shooting incidents alone on Sunday, police said.
The tallies vary, some including those shot by the police, including two teenagers who apparently refused to put down guns. But it's not just Chicago. Here in Lexington, shootings have seemed to be happening almost daily as of late.
Woman killed at Lexington house is city's 11th homicide
She is Lexington's 11th homicide victim of the year.
The woman was shot just before 3 p.m. Sunday in the 200 block of Race Street, and police found her lying on the porch of a small frame house.
She had been shot multiple times, according to initial reports.
She was the fourth person to die in Lexington in a series of shootings in various parts of town since late June. At least 12 people have been wounded by gunfire during that time.
Lexington recently beefed up its robbery-homicide squad to deal with several open murder cases and is looking into ways to combat the violence. We have very weak gun laws in Kentucky (you are required to have a concealed carry licence to do so, but I don't think guns must be otherwise registered or gun owners licensed. Now, Chicago's population is nearly 10 times ours--2,718,782 estimated in 2013 to our 308,428 in the same year. But it seems like both cities are starting to feel like violence is out of control.
I'll admit it: I don't like guns. I've shot rifles and shotguns in 4-H, but have never owned a gun. I grew up with a gun in the house (every military person has a service pistol, as far as I know, or at least had one at the time I was growing up, and I grew up on military bases). I never bothered it, knew not to. But I wouldn't have one in the house with children, even locked both cabinet-wise or the gun itself. I am much more likely to get hurt by having a gun than not, and I know it. I don't think the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right to own personal handguns, although if you're into muskets and joining militias, I think you're covered. I see no reason to own a fully automatic rifle, as it is only good for killing people and perhaps an unsporting kill when hunting (real deer hunting, as far as I'm concerned, is done with bows). But I live in a gun-rich country with many, many people who are ready to have their guns pried away from their cold, dead fingers. I also, unfortunately, live in a society where people can shoot unarmed black teenagers because they fear for their lives and get off entirely. I believe that's terribly wrong. I recognise that other people feel differently and have a right to their opinion. But I think they're wrong, and I'm not particularly interested in arguing with them, because that usually degenerates into a free for all where neither side is going to budge, with a lot of emotion that undermines any reason.
And the shootings go on, and it's tragic--so many families touched by violence, and I seriously doubt that anyone with the power to do anything will. Sigh.
