A weekend that was supposed to be full of Easter baskets, family and church was riddled with bullets and blood in Chicago.
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Despite the announcement that Chicago crime was down 69 percent from the previous year, 25 people were shot and wounded this Easter weekend. Two of those victims were shot fatally.
Of the two that were killed, one was a 23-year-old man who police believe was a target of gang violence.
Eugenio Solano was walking in the 1800 block of North Francisco with a 44-year-old man at 8:05 p.m. Friday when a group of three men approached them, asked for directions and opened fire. Solano was shot in the chest and died at the scene, while the other man suffered a non fatal wound to his hand.
The other fatality, a 19-year-old man, occurred in the Little Italy area of Chicago, where six others were wounded as well.
Akeem Manago was walking with a 23-year-old man in the 1300 block of West Hastings Street in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood around 1:50 a.m. Sunday, when four males are believed to have approached them and opened fire, the Chicago Tribune reports. Manago was pronounced dead shortly thereafter at Stroger Hospital, while the other man was shot in the leg and last listed in good condition.
While Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy acknowledges that the city’s crime rate is declining, he also said that it is by no means a victory, considering the recent bout of violence this weekend.
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As always, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
SOURCE: HuffPost
