This Memorial Day weekend turned into a bloody massacre in Chicago. There were a total of 40 reported shootings, which left 10 people dead and a dozen injured.
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A man was shot dead near a holiday party in the South Shore neighborhood late Monday night, while an unidentified woman was found shot to death in an abandoned building.
The recent homicides have doubled as compared to Memorial Day 2011 and according to homicide records, there have been at least 200 homicides so far this year compared with 134 during the same period in 2011. That’s a 49.25 percent increase over the last year.
On Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy are expected to hold a news conference where they discuss two new crime reduction strategies as shootings are up nearly 14 percent over last year.
There have been 851 shootings so far in 2012 compared with 747 during the same period in 2011, police data showed.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune:
In the Monday night incident, two men ages 21 and 33 were shot on the street in the 1700 block of East 68th Street just before 10 p.m., police said, citing early reports.
The older victim, Malcolm Dowdy, of the 8600 block of South Euclid Avenue, was taken to Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The second victim was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the back.
Both men were guests of large annual Memorial Day party, police said. Two neighbors said they heard a loud argument just before shots rang out.
The gunshots touched off a frantic escape by partygoers, including one motorist who sped the wrong way on a one-way street, they said.
The death toll could increase if an unidentified woman found dead in the basement of an abandoned building in the 1500 S. Sawyer Avenue on Monday is determined to have been slain during the weekend.
Summertime in the Chi is a violent and dangerous place. With each passing year, the violence gets bloodier and the victims become younger. We pray for the Chi.
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
