US Gun Violence: Seven Killed, 30 Injured in Chicago Shootings

By Staff, Agencies

As the epidemic of gun violence assumes alarming proportions across the United States, at least seven people were killed and more than 30 others wounded in a series of shootings across the US city of Chicago over the weekend, police reported.

According to Chicago police, 38 people were shot in 27 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday evening and 11:59 p.m. Sunday night in the most populous city in the US state of Illinois.

It said four people were killed in shootings across the city within a matter of hours on Saturday morning, including a 37-year-old man struck in the chest, a 36-year-old man hit in the abdomen, and another shot multiple times in the body.

A double-fatal shooting was also reported early Sunday morning and two men were shot and taken to the hospital by the police only to be pronounced dead.

Police further said a 30-year-old man was discovered lying on the street after being shot in the chest at 4 a.m. and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 19-year-old woman was also taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition after being shot in the neck and face.

Two weeks ago, a 3-year-old boy and an 8-year-old were wounded in two different shootings across the city.

According to United Nations statistics, the homicide rate in the country is three times that of Canada, five of France, and twenty-six times that of Japan.

Nationally, police data suggests homicides rose seven percent in 2021 while fatal shootings increased by roughly 80 percent in the largest US cities.

According to reports, Chicago holds a high homicide rate among American cities with nearly 800 killings in the city of 2.7 million last year.

According to studies, the surge in gun violence comes as firearm purchases rose to record levels in 2020 and 2021, marking the number of arms in American hands more than the total American population.

Survey results by the Nork Polling Center show about one-fifth of American adults have experienced gun violence in the past five years, whereas African Americans and Hispanics are two to four times more likely to experience gun violence compared to their white counterparts.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, more than 30,200 people have been killed in gun violence in the US in 2022, including through homicide and mass shootings.