Bloody Chicago Holiday: 10 Killed, 40 Shot During Memorial Day Weekend
The three-day weekend leading up to Memorial Day was a bloody period in Chicago as 40 people were shot and 10 victims were killed.
The shootings began on Friday and ended with a man being shot in the face at 1:30 a.m. in Albany Park.
While most of the surviving victims were listed in “stable” or “good condition” according to doctors, at least several victims were listed in “serious” or “critical condition” including the man who was shot in the face but managed to survive in Albany Park.
Chicago has seen a resurgence of killings during the first five months of 2012, according to the Chicago Tribune, homicides are up 49 percent with 200 people killed compared to 134 during the same period in 2011.
In the meantime experts point at warmer weather conditions for the increase in violent crime Dr. Larry Mitchell of Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital tells NPR:
“For us, when the weather’s warm, the first thing we think, we’re going to get some gunshots in here because we know people are out in the street.”
During the month of May Chicago experienced 66-degree average temperatures, the cities warmest on record in 35 years.
In a sad turn of events the youngest victim is just 7-years-old. Thankfully that young girl was not killed and after suffering a gunshot wound to the arm is expected to recovery.
Chicago officials are working on new strategies to curb crime in the city with mayor Rahm Emanuel and police chiefs expected to hold a press conference to discuss new strategies on Tuesday afternoon.
