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Chicago crosses 2,000 shooting victims this year

Posted at 4:51 PM, Jul 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-05 16:51:03-04

A war among criminals rages on in America’s third-largest city, with innocent residents caught in the crossfire.

Over the holiday weekend, Chicago passed an ominous threshold: So far in 2016, 2,000 people have been victims of gun violence.

In all of last year, 2,988 people were victims of gun violence, according to records kept by The Chicago Tribune.

Over the July 4th weekend four people were killed and 46 were injured in 42 separate shootings, according to a release from the Chicago Police Department. Last July 4th weekend, seven were killed and 40 wounded.

Looking at all of 2016 — in every metric that matters in tracking gun violence — the numbers are up.

At least 319 people have been slain in Chicago this year, about a 50% increase over this period last year. The number of shootings and the number of shooting victims in 2016 have also increased at about the same rate.

Police response

Chicago Police executed an aggressive gang raid on Friday, hoping to decrease violence over the holiday weekend.

Eighty-eight people were arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, according to Chicago police. Of that group, 55 were convicted felons, and 16 were serving parole sentences for earlier crimes, police said.

Police called the levels of violence over the holiday weekend “unacceptable,” but note that the city’s fireworks display, lakefront, and transit stations remained safe.