Chicago endured yet another bloody holiday weekend as more than 50 people were shot and six were killed in a wave of violence spanning Independence Day through Sunday night.
The tragic toll underscores the city’s ongoing struggle to contain violent crime, even as city officials and Democrat leadership continue to dodge accountability.
According to ABC 7 Chicago, a combination of drive-by shootings and mass shootings plagued neighborhoods across the city from midnight on July 3 through late Sunday, adding to an already grim summer in a city that remains one of the most violent in the nation.
The violence began early. On Saturday morning, four individuals were injured, three critically, in a drive-by shooting in Little Village.
Multiple suspects inside an SUV opened fire on a vehicle where the victims were sitting, authorities reported.
Later that same day, two men were gunned down in separate shootings.
A 46-year-old man was shot and killed while sitting in his vehicle in the Lake View neighborhood.
Police say a suspect is in custody in that case. Just hours later, a 30-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound to the head on the West Side.
Detectives are still investigating.
But the bloodshed didn’t stop there.
In just a matter of minutes on Friday night, multiple shootings unfolded on the city’s South Side.
One victim, 36-year-old Marco A. Velasquez-Sierra, was found shot in the head.
Police have made no arrests in the case.
Around the same time, two suspects opened fire on a crowd, injuring seven people, two of whom remain in critical condition.
Minutes later, another shooter struck, killing 16-year-old Meeyah Smith with a gunshot to the throat and injuring a 35-year-old man.
No suspects have been apprehended.
Early Thursday morning, two women were shot inside a South Side home during an apparent attempted robbery.
One woman, age 29, died at the scene.
The male suspect fled and has not been located.
Also on Thursday, a 21-year-old man was killed in a drive-by shooting, adding to a pair of separate mass shootings that left a total of seven more people wounded, according to ABC 7.
The latest violence brings the total number of homicides in Chicago this year to 205, including 170 fatal shootings, according to city data.
The deadly Fourth of July weekend followed a violent Memorial Day, when 22 people were shot, two fatally.
Notably, both the Chicago Police Department and the office of Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to respond to media requests for comment.
The silence follows mounting criticism that the city’s progressive leadership has failed to make safety a priority amid rising crime, demoralized police ranks, and soft-on-crime policies.
Despite repeated claims by city officials that efforts are underway to reduce gun violence, residents continue to face the reality that Chicago remains one of America’s most dangerous cities, particularly on weekends when many are simply trying to gather and celebrate.
READ MORE – Drive-By Shooting at Chicago Nightclub Leaves Four Dead, More Than a Dozen Injured
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