Gun violence continues to hit the city of Chicago as police records indicate 21 people were shot Wednesday alone, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The day began with a South Side shooting at approximately 12:35 a.m. The victims, men aged 23 and 27, were shot in a drive-by shooting by someone riding in a green SUV, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The younger man was shot twice in the leg and is in good condition, and the 27-year-old remains in critical condition after being hit in the chest and thigh, according to the report.
A 9 year-old-boy and his mother, 27, were both reportedly wounded after being shot in the back Wednesday afternoon in Austin on the West Side of the city. Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown claimed the two gunmen who exited their vehicle and opened fire were not aiming at the mother and child; rather, their targets were a group of men on a corner. Brown called the acts “cowardly,” and both victims remain in critical condition, the Sun-Times reported.
In South Side Chicago, 6 individuals were reportedly wounded in a single shooting around 11:30 p.m. Police say the shooter fired into a crowd gathered outside near the 8500 block of South Parnell Avenue. Among the victims was a 29-year-old male who was struck by a bullet in the neck and back, and a 37-year-old male who was shot in the head, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Both are reportedly still alive but currently in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The four other victims remain in fair condition. A bullet grazed the head of a 17-year-old boy, and the three other victims, men the ages of 21, 28, and 29, suffered injuries to their back, arm, and leg, respectively.
Chicago mayor elect Lori Lightfoot speaks during the election night party in Chicago, Illinois on April 2, 2019. (Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP)
The latest reported shooting Wednesday left a 21-year-old man’s hand wounded after an argument between the shooter and the victim broke out around 11:55 p.m. in the South Side neighborhood of Bronzeville, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. The victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and is in fair condition. (RELATED: Over 60 Shot, 11 Dead In Another Violent Chicago Weekend)
Among Chicago’s other 10 victims of gun violence Wednesday were two 19-year-olds and an 18-year-old, according to authorities.
There have been 86 shooting victims wounded in Chicago this week as of the end of Wednesday. There were 29 shooting victims Sunday, 21 on Monday, and 15 on Tuesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The shootings come less than a month after 15 people were shot in a mass shooting outside a Gresham funeral home. Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was elected in April 2019, and promised to combat gun- and gang-related violence.
“To the cowards behind these shootings, and ‘cowards’ I think is the right word here, we have to ask you to find your humanity,” Lightfoot said after the shooting in Gresham in a July press conference, according to WTTW. “This senseless violence, this cycle of retaliation, picking up a gun, many times in petty grievances, picking up a gun that solves nothing but causes so much lifelong pain. I pray for you, but I also pray that we find you and that we bring you to justice.”
The level of violence seen this August comes after Chicago experienced more than double the homicides and nearly double the amount of shootings in July when compared to 2019 figures, according to NBC Chicago. Not only in July, but throughout 2020, Chicago has experienced a sharp increase in the number of shootings and homicides. There have been over 440 homicides and 2,240 shooting victims in Chicago during the first 7 months of 2020, according to the same report. Over the same period of time in 2019, there were 290 homicides and 1,480 people shot, according to police data. This marks a more than 50% increase in both murders and shootings.