Twenty-five people were shot in Chicago over the 2nd week of February, and 11 of them were children. The violent weekend continued a year where the city has seen a rise in shootings and homicides, with over 200 of the former and over 50 of the latter. Though none of the children died from the shootings, three adults were killed during the weekend.
At least three involved an accidental shooting after a kid was playing with or handling a firearm. Those incidents include a 7-year-old girl shooting an 11-year-old boy, a young boy shooting an 8-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, and a 15-year-old boy shooting a 14-year-old girl.
Pair of 16-year-old boys was also shot in separate drive-by incidents, and a 17-year-old was shot in his car after another vehicle pulled up next to him. Additionally, a shooting in an apartment building wounded six, including three minors, and a 17-year-old girl was shot after being approached by a group of men who asked if she and her friend wanted to buy drugs, police say.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who’s nine months into her tenure, has called the city’s gun violence a top priority for her administration but has seen mixed results so far in her attempts to combat it.
People cannot and should not live in neighborhoods that resemble a war zone, Lightfoot told ahead of a controversial plan to flood neighborhoods with police over the Fourth of July weekend. But despite that effort, 63 people were still shot.
