Chicago, IL — The gun violence continues in Chicago as more than 27 people were and shot and 12 people killed during this past Christmas weekend alone. According to The New York Times, one of the people killed was an 18-year-old man who was shot multiple times in the neck and back while he was driving at 1:30 a.m. on Christmas Day.
According to data from the Chicago Police Department, that makes 745 homicides this year in the city, which is a 56 percent increase from 476 during the same time last year.
According to The Chicago Tribune, 2016 is the first time in nearly two decades that more than 700 homicides have been recorded in the city. But that number doesn’t even include the number of non-fatal shoots which reached 4,252, up 47 percent from 2,884 at the same time in 2015.
The Chicago police superintendent called the violence “sickening”, and says that shootings were “deliberate and planned” gang-related attacks that targeted holiday gatherings.
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