In an article earlier this month, we said that "Chicago is disintegrating" amidst soaring gun violence and homicides, in large part due to the deteriorating economic situation. Unfortunately, we now have an update to the state of things in the windy city, and it's getting uglier.
A 16-year old boy who was shot in the knee marked the 1,000th gunshot victim in Chicago this year, as the city returns to a level of shootings not seen since the 1990's. This past Wednesday, Chicago reached 1,000 victims months earlier than the previous four years. The number of shooting victims year-to-date is up 66.7% from 2015, and 107% from 2014.
At 1,000 victims, this year's shooting toll exceeds last year's total at this point — about 600 victims — by more than 66 percent. At this point in 2014, 483 people had been shot.
As one would guess, the homicide rate has steadily climbed as well, and with 161 homicides year-to-date (as of the time of the article), homicides have jumped 64% from 2015. If current trends persist, the city appears likely to top 500 homicides for only the second time since 2008.
As the Tribune points out, while the violence pales by comparison to the early to mid-1990s when homicides peaked in Chicago at more than 900 a year, the city still continues to far outpace the nation's two larger cities, New York and Los Angeles.
So far this year, the number of people shot here far exceeds those two cities combined. Through April 10, New York — a city more than three times the size of Chicago — had seen 246 people shot, while in LA —with over a million more people than Chicago — 328 people had been shot through April 16, both departments reported.
Then again, if Obama's "recovery" continues at this pace, we would not be surprised to see a record homicide year in Chicago soon.
The Chicago Tribune maintains detailed statistics on the shootings. Here is an infographic that shows the monthly homicide totals, as well as where they are located.
Poster Comment:
If I were the Prez, the FBI would map out violent crime and the presence of blacks.