27 shot, 7 fatally, over Christmas weekend in Chicago
Twenty-seven people have been shot in Chicago over the Christmas weekend, seven of whom have succumbed to their wounds.
The figure was recorded in a 48-hour period by the Chicago Police Department, according to a New York Times report on Sunday.
It marks a sharp rise in homicides and shootings since last year in one of the largest American cities, located in the state of Illinois.
Various conflicts among gangs over different subjects usually escalate to gunfire in Chicago.
Among this weekend’s victims was a Hispanic 18-year-old, who died due to multiple shots in his neck and back, while driving in the southwestern neighborhood of Gage Park on Christmas Day.
In 2016, Chicago saw 745 cases of homicide, which shows a 56 percent increase, compared to the previous year’s figure, 476, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a spokesman with the Chicago Police Department.
The year 2016 was the first year in nearly two decades that more than 700 homicides were reported in the city.
There were also 4,252 victims this year, 47 percent more than the 2,884 recorded at the same time in 2015.
So far this month, 42 homicide cases have been reported compared to the 33 reported for the entire month of December in 2015.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), firearms are the cause of death for more than 33,000 people in the US every year, a number that includes accidental discharge, murder, and suicides.
The US Constitution's Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms with gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), asserting that restrictions on gun purchases would not improve public safety.
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