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125 Shot Dead In Chicago Over Summer
Total Is About Double The U.S. Troop Death Toll In Iraq
CHICAGO (CBS) ― An estimated 125 people were shot and killed over the summer. That's nearly double the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq over the same time period.
In May, cbs2chicago.com began tracking city shootings and posting them on Google maps. Information compiled from our reporters, wire service reports and the Chicago Police Major Incidents log indicated that 125 people were shot and killed throughout the city between the start of Memorial Day weekend on May 26, and the end of Labor Day on Sept. 1.
According to the Defense Department, 65 U.S. soldiers were killed in combat in Iraq. About the same number were killed in Afghanistan over that same period.
In the same time period, an estimated 247 people were shot and wounded in the city.
Tracking Summer Shootings In Chicago
Police department spokeswoman Monique Bond disputed the numbers, saying in an e-mail that sometimes shootings are re-classified as accidental. She said the CBS 2 analysis did not match official department statistics, but she did not provide details. CBS 2 has asked for that information.
"The department officially releases crime statistics on a monthly basis to ensure the proper investigations are thoroughly conducted to determine manner and motive which also may result in reclassifications, '' Bond said.
Violent crime reports available on the department's website do not break down shootings by month. However, the latest report shows that the murder in the city is up 18 percent from last year. From January-July, the department reports 291 people were murdered, compared with 246 for the same period in 2007.
Bond said gang-related violence presents the most serious danger to Chicago residents.
"Gang and gun violence continue to be the dominating threat on our streets," Bond said in an e-mail. "Up to 60 percent of the shootings are gang related. More than 90 percent of the offenders have criminal histories and up to 80 percent of the victims have criminal histories."
For total shootings, the South Side's Englewood District, which includes the Englewood and West Englewood neighborhoods on the city's South Side, fared the worst over the summer. A total of 11 people were shot dead there, and 46 were shot and wounded.
The highest homicide totals came in the Grand Crossing District, which includes the South Shore, Woodlawn, Park Manor and Grand Crossing neighborhoods on the South Side, 13 people were killed and 24 were injured.
Also hit severely by gun violence over the summer was the Harrison District on the city's West Side, where 11 people were shot dead and 25 were shot and wounded. In the Southwest Side's Chicago Lawn District, 12 people were shot and killed and 15 were shot and wounded. In the Ogden District which includes the Near Southwest Side's Lawndale and Little Village neighborhoods nine people were killed and eight were injured.
The South Chicago District on the Southeast Side saw nine people killed and 18 injured, almost all concentrated in the South Chicago and Avalon Park neighborhoods at the north end of the district.
The Far South Side's Calumet District including the Roseland, Fernwood and Pullman neighborhoods saw nine killed and 23 injured.
Here is a micro example of "Change" Obama/Biden wants. Not to mention another fine example of how gun control does not work when double the amount of people were killed over summer in this city than US forces in Iraq over the same time frame.
Are handguns illegal for now? I thought the Supreme Court recently ruled that even hydrocephalic 12-year-olds with felony records were entitled to own automatic weapons.
Sorry i don't follow guns that closely that is why i am not for or against banning guns for I know it wouldn't probably solve the problem. And that repulican friend of mine has a machine gun of some sort where the bullets feed into the side. Sorry I am from Washington I don't know much gun talk. I just don't see what you need that for or maybe the gun was illegal.Luissa - the AK-47s available to you at the gun store are not the fully-automatic weapons you see in movies and on the news.
They are semiautomatic replicas. That is one pull of the trigger will fire one bullet. They are not machine guns.
Here is an semiautomatic AK-47 variant designed for civilian use (found the pic on Google):
Here is a Ruger Mini-30:
Both have almost identical actions. Both shoot the same caliber. The difference is that the AK variant has such features as a conspicuously protruding pistol grip, bayonet lug, and a flash hider. These "assault weapon" features are purely aesthetic and have no bearing on the rifle's function.
I don't understand why one should be legal while the other shouldn't. Can you tell me what your rationale is?
Sorry i don't follow guns that closely that is why i am not for or against banning guns for I know it wouldn't probably solve the problem. And that repulican friend of mine has a machine gun of some sort where the bullets feed into the side. Sorry I am from Washington I don't know much gun talk. I just don't see what you need that for or maybe the gun was illegal.
My brother was actually shot in face, it was sort of gang violence not on my brother's end and yes there are gangs here because it is considered a safe zone plus Canada's close.My point is the gun was stolen and you will never get rid those types of crime by banning guns!
Barry's done such a great of job keeping his constituents safe and their rights uninfringed
cbs2chicago.com - 125 Shot Dead In Chicago Over Summer
