109 Shot, 19 Killed During Violent Fourth of July Weekend in Chicago

More than 100 people were sh0t and 19 killed across Chicago during a vi0lent Fourth of July celebration in the US.

The number of shootings, which totaled 109 victims between Thursday and Sunday surpassed last year’s holiday weekend total, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling and Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a Monday press conference.

“These are 19 families whose lives are forever altered. Nineteen families who woke up this morning without a son, without a daughter, without a mother, without a father, without an aunt, without an uncle. Over 100 people whose lives will never be the same,” Mayor Johnson said.

The most recent shooting incident was a homicide around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday in Chicago’s Austin neighbourhood. Police responded to a well-being check in the area and found a 36-year-old man on the kitchen floor. He was bleeding and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead on the scene.

Just before 5:30 a.m. Sunday, three men were shot and wounded outside the University of Chicago Hospital. According to police, witnesses observed someone in a dark-grey SUV point a gun from the vehicle and fire shots at several people standing near a parked car in what initially looked to be a targeted shooting. The victims were transported to the hospital.

Weekend shootings with multiple victims included an incident at Columbus Park in the Austin neighbourhood. Police said two people exchanged gunfire and fled the scene. A total of seven people were shot.

A 40-year-old man died after driving himself to Stroger Hospital following the shooting.

The youngest shooting victim over the extended Fourth of July weekend was 8-year-old Bryson Orr, who was killed along with two female relatives in the Greater Grand Crossing neighbourhood. Two other children were also wounded in the shooting.

“We cannot bring back these children. If we want to avoid having these types of press conferences and these types of meetings again, we need every single person to step up. We need people to start coming forward. We need people to take responsibility. Help us, help you,” Supt. Snelling said.

Additional officers were deployed over the extended holiday weekend across Chicago.

The police department announced the opening of an Emergency Services Assistance Center Tuesday at Fosco Park, which will help people who have been traumatized by the weekend’s violence.