Chicago sees 11 killings over weekend
CHICAGO — At least 11 people were shot to death and about 70 wounded in a weekend burst of violence in Chicago that instantly became a political issue when President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, blamed the carnage on longtime Democratic rule in the city.
Police on Monday attributed the dozens of shootings to gangs, the illegal flow of guns and sweltering August heat that drew more people outside.
The victims ranged in age from 11 to 63, according to police. One teenage girl died after being shot in the face. A teenage boy was fatally shot riding a bike Sunday afternoon. Other shootings took place at a block party and a funeral.
“Our souls are burdened,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “It is unacceptable to happen in any neighborhood of Chicago. We are a better city.”
Echoing comments that Trump himself has made repeatedly about Chicago, Giuliani blamed Emanuel — President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff — and decades of “one party Democratic rule” in a series of tweets on Sunday and Monday.
The mayor had no immediate comment on Giuliani’s attacks.
Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson noted that homicides in the city are down by around 20 percent from last year. But he said gang members and others arrested on gun charges “think they can play by their own rules” and aren’t being dealt with harshly enough.
Days before the attacks, some 200 protesters marched through a well-to-do North Side neighborhood and briefly closed Lake Shore Drive, calling for more resources to stem violence in poor areas.