The streak of violence in far-left cities across the country continues and Chicago is at the front of the pack. There were 64 people shot in the Windy City over the weekend and nine of them were killed. This number includes a 12-year-old boy who was shot by his mother after a disagreement about a memory card.
The number of people shot this past weekend was less than the total number shot over Labor Day weekend, but the death toll was higher. Only six people were killed over the holiday weekend.
This past weekend in Chicago saw two mass shootings, one included a firefighter and his 15-year-old niece who were seriously wounded, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
“At least 64 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, including a 12-year-old boy killed by his mother, and an off-duty firefighter and his 15-year-old niece wounded in one of two mass shootings in the city, according to police,” the Sun-Times reported. “Several children were shot over the weekend. Two boys, 12 and 13, were wounded Friday night while standing on a front porch in the Austin neighborhood. Five shooting victims were 16 years old.”
What shocked the city on the south side was a shooting that started when a mother fatally shot her 12-year-old son after the boy was not able to produce a digital memory card that had allegedly been taken from her car.
“Fallon Harris, 37, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her son in the 8000 block of South Bennett Avenue,” Chicago’s ABC affiliate reported. “Harris confronted the boy about 10:15 Saturday morning about the whereabouts of a digital memory card she had removed from her vehicle the previous night, according to Cook County State’s Attorney Eugene Wood. After he was unable to produce the memory card when his mother demanded it at gunpoint, she shot him, Wood said Sunday during Harris’ initial court appearance.”
On the west side of the city, a firefighter and his niece were shot in a mass shooting. This incident left one woman dead and several others wounded. The Sun-Times also reported that the mass shooting happened in a neighborhood that is now home to some of the worst violence seen in the last several decades. The community of West Pullman was at one point going to become a model for Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot’s anti-violence efforts.
On Monday the Sun-Times reported, “Murders are up about 40% from this time a year ago in the police district that covers West Pullman, rising from three to five. Shootings are up about 35%, from 141 to 189. Other crime has also spiked: Sexual assaults are up 38%, aggravated battery up 11%. During the same time, murders are up 3.6% across the city, from 535 last year to 554 this year. Shootings are up 9.5%, from 2,909 last year to 3,185 this year. Compared to this time in 2019, shootings are up nearly 68%.”
It was just a year ago that Mayor Lori Lightfoot released a violence prevention plan that proposed pouring resources into West Pullman and 14 other community areas. They were to receive not just violence intervention programs but help with jobs and housing and health.
“Yet West Pullman and six of the other areas have recorded more shootings since last year, according to Sun-Times data. The others are Great Grand Crossing, South Shore, East Garfield Park, Roseland, Englewood, and Chicago Lawn,” the Sun-Times reported.
But the promised resources — around $36 million for West Pullman alone — have yet to come to fruition in the neighborhood, according to the Sun-Times.
