Dozens of people, including two police officers, were shot over a single weekend that left at least six people dead, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
A total of 48 people were shot in Chicago in separate incidents between Friday and Sunday morning, injuring two police officers and several children and resulting in at least six deaths. Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded to the shootings, pointing to a spike in illegal firearm possession and saying she hoped to bring peace to the city.
“Let’s bring peace to our city,” Lightfoot told reporters at a news conference Sunday. “We’ve got to put these guns down. We’ve got to stop the flow of illegal guns into our city.”
The two officers were responding to a ShotSpotter alert in the 1400 block of South Lawndale Avenue in Chicago’s West Side when a shooter in an alleyway opened fire, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown stated at the news conference. One officer was shot in the shoulder above his bulletproof vest and the other was shot in the hand, according to Brown. Both were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment. The unidentified shooter was also shot and is currently being treated in the hospital, according to the Sun Times.
Other shootings left several children injured, including a 2-year-old girl who was sitting in the back of the car when a gunman shot her in the leg and a 13-year-old boy who was struck in the neck and head, the Sun Times reported.
Two 14-year-olds were also shot over the weekend, according to ABC News.
Lightfoot expressed her gratitude to police officers for sacrificing their safety to keep their communities safe. (RELATED: Police Data Shows Chicago Shootings For March At Highest Level In 4 Years)
“This underscores the danger that our men and women in the police department face everyday. They run in danger to protect us, and we can’t forget that,” Lightfoot said at the news conference.
Superintendent @ChiefDavidBrown was joined by @ChicagosMayor Lori Lightfoot to speak to the media about two Chicago Police officers shot this morning in the 10th District.
Click the link to view the press conference in its entirety.
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— Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) May 16, 2021
Rapper Lil Reese was shot Saturday morning in a gunfight along with two others in a parking garage, according to the Sun Times. One is in critical condition, while the rapper and the other man reportedly suffer from non-life threatening injuries.
The number of shooting victims over the past weekend is the highest amount recorded this year, according to the Sun Times. The number of shooting victims increased twice the amount from the previous weekend, which left five people killed and 21 injured.
The number of shootings in Chicago has increased drastically in 2021, with a total number of 865 recorded shooting incidents — a 33% increase from 2020, according to the Chicago Police Department.