Chicago violence on May 31, was marked as one of the deadliest days in the last 30 years. 18 killings happened within 24 hours. The violence happened as a protest for George Floyd’s death and spurred riots and looting in Windy City.
In the last week of May, during the three-day holiday, around 85 people were shot among 24 killed. Most victims of such incidents were African Americans. Both injured and dead people included students, middle-aged workers, parents, and more.
The senior research director of Crime Lab, Max Kapustin, said that they’ve not witnessed something like in a long time. The data of the lab dates back to as far as 1961. He couldn’t put anything into words and said that it was beyond describable. He said that they haven’t witnessed something as bad as this.
Kapustin said that the protests for George Floyd’s death might have distracted the police department from their regular duties. When the Chicago Police Department diverted their attention towards protests, there was a vacuum in terms of maintaining the chaos happening around it. Suddenly, civilians were getting killed and it led it is one of the deadly events in the city.
The second most deadly day in the history of the city was August 4, 1991. 13 people were killed according to the data that remains from the event. According to the reports given by researchers, the city might have not seen such a deadly day in the past 60 years. However, the data is less accurate than digital information posted afterward.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that 911 got more than 65,000 calls on that day. On average the emergency department gets around 15,000 calls per day. Police reported that the activity levels have been unprecedented over the past weekend and they are investigating several incidents across the city to find out the motive behind such cases.
Casualties of Chicago violence
Active working is needed to deliver justice for all the civilians who were impacted, injured, and killed due to senseless acts of violence. A 36-year-old named Angelo Bronson was shot in the Englewood neighborhood. He was a father of two and came down from Washington DC to meet his family.
John Tiggs, a father of three children, was in a cellphone store paying his bill when he was killed. He was only 32 years old as reported his family. Two university students Keishanay Bolden and Lazarra Daniels were killed. They were both 18 years old and were among the Sunday victims.
Chicago’s murder rate has been highest in the US for a long time, but it did in the previous years. During the 1990s, the average number of murders in a year used to be 900. However, 2018 recorded to have 561 murders, which was more than Los Angeles and New York combined. LA and NY are also high on murder rates, but still not as much as Chicago. 2019 recorded 429 murders, while 2020 could get worse due to the reoccurrence of such crimes.
