At least 53 people were shot, including 13 fatally, between Friday evening and Sunday evening in Chicago, according to police.
At least three minors were among those who were killed in Chicago, police authorities told ABC7 and NBC Chicago.
A 10-year-old girl was hit in the head by a stray bullet in the Logan Square neighborhood on Saturday at around 9:40 p.m. local time, police said. The girl died after she was taken to Stroger Hospital, officials said, while the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has not released further details about her death.
Police said a 1-year-old boy and his mother were injured in the Englewood neighborhood on Saturday afternoon. The mother was in the car with her child when a vehicle pulled up to her and someone inside opened fire, authorities said, adding that the boy was shot in the incident.
The 1-year-old was in the back in a car seat when he was shot. The child was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead, authorities told the ABC affiliate.
The other minor, a 17-year-old male, was shot and killed at around 11:25 a.m. on Saturday in North Monticello. The boy was with a group of people when he got into an altercation, someone in the group fired a gun, and the bullet struck him in the chest, authorities said.
The Chicago Tribune’s tracker noted that as of June 22, about 1,500 people have been shot across Chicago so far in 2020, which is about 350 more shootings than in 2019. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, citing the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, so far, about 309 people have been murdered in 2020.
In late May, 18 people were murdered in 24 hours, marking the “most violent day in Chicago in 60 years,” the Chicago Sun-Times declared earlier this month.
A week ago, during Father’s Day weekend, more than 104 people were injured, including 15 fatally, in shootings across Chicago, marking one of the weekends in recent memory. Among those killed included a 3-year-old boy, who was also shot while he was traveling in a vehicle.
Rev. Ira Acree, in a news conference, said the shooting death of the 3-year-old means something has to change.
“It would be an ultimate contradiction to march for justice for George Floyd and not say a word about a 3-year-old who can’t defend himself or speak for himself,” he said last week. “Don’t miss the point. We say Black lives matter. Black babies’ lives matter more.”
A Chicago alderman, Anthony Napolitano, who had worked a police officer, said there needs to be “more outrage” over the rampant shootings and murders in the city. Numerous people have vilified police officers in the wake of George Floyd’s death, leading to a surge in crime across the city, he added.
“I come from a police family and a police neighborhood in the city of Chicago. Nobody, not a single person would justify what happened in Minnesota. That was unfortunate. It was the worst that could have happened,” Napolitano said.
