While the city experienced continuous protests and looting, 18 people were fatally shot on May 31, making it the most violent day in 60 years, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
The previous record was August 4, 1991, when 13 people were killed in the city.
Crime Lab senior research director Max Kapustin told the Chicago Sun-Times: “We’ve never seen anything like it, at all,” adding that “I don’t even know how to put it into context. It’s beyond anything that we’ve ever seen before.”
65,000 calls were made to the city’s 911 line, according to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The city’s operators usually receive around 15,000 calls on a normal day.
From May 29 to May 31, 25 people were killed and 85 suffered injuries.
Rev. Michael Pfleger, an anti-gun violence advocate, called the Memorial Weekend ‘open season’ in his Auburn Gresham neighborhood.
“On Saturday and particularly Sunday, I heard people saying all over, ‘Hey, there’s no police anywhere, police ain’t doing nothing,’” he told the newspaper, saying he “sat and watched a store looted for over an hour,” without police officers responding to the scene. The same things happened when he drove to other areas that were getting looted.
Max Kapustin said that it is not unusual for police departments to divert resources to manning protests during huge demonstrations.
“When CPD has to turn its attention elsewhere and there’s suddenly this vacuum that opens up, you also unfortunately see a picture like you saw with [last] weekend where you see an absurd amount of carnage, people getting injured and killed.”
Michael Pfleger said that problems like a lack of housing, food insecurity and joblessness worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic, and George Floyd’s death also brought out anger and hopelessness among people in many neighborhoods.
“It’s like a time bomb out there,” he expressed. “People are on the edge, people are angry, people are poor, and they don’t even know when it’s going to change.”
In a statement obtained by the newspaper, the Chicago Police Department stated: “The level of activity experienced over the last week has been unprecedented and the Department is actively investigating multiple incidents across the city and working to determine the motives in these cases.”
The statement also said that it “is actively working to seek justice for all the residents impacted, especially those who have been killed or injured by these senseless acts of violence.”
After the “increased violent and criminal activity,” the police department was forced to cancel days off for all officers and implemented 12-hour shifts.
Among the victims who where fatally shot on May 31 were fathers of young children, two brothers, and students.
32-year-old John Tiggs, a father of three young children, was going to South Side Metro PCS to pay bills when he was shot in the abdomen, his heartbroken relatives said to the Chicago-Sun Times.
36-year-old Angelo Bronson, a father of two, was standing in the Englewood street when a bullet fired from a moving vehicle hit him, and he passed away one hour later.
Brothers 31-year-old Darius Jelks and 39-year-old Maurice Jelks were shot while driving their mother home, and 22-year-old Myqwon Blanchard was killed outside a restaurant at a North Riverside mall being looted. They were both fathers.
Keishanay Bolden and Lazarra Daniels, both 18, were also fatally shot at different times and places.
What are your thoughts on ‘Chicago Experiences Most Violent Day In 60 YEARS As 18 People Were Fatally Shot In Just 24 Hours’? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!
Replaced!