A total of seven people had been killed and 47 more had been injured this Labor Day weekend in Chicago as of Monday afternoon.
The violence is rising as conversations heat up about President Trump’s preparation possibly to deploy the National Guard.
This Labor Day weekend was much more violent than those of previous recent years — driven in part by mass shootings.
At 1:05 a.m. Monday, five people were wounded in a mass shooting in the 3600 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in the South Side’s Bronzeville neighborhood. Police said a 17-year-old boy, a 26-year-old man, two 33-year-old men, and a 36-year-old woman were wounded in the shooting.
Police recovered four guns from the scene of the Cottage Grove Avenue shooting.
The Cottage Grove Avenue shooting was the third mass shooting reported by Chicago police this holiday weekend. The first took place a mile to the east in the 3500 block of South State Street, also in Bronzeville and right behind the parking lot for Chicago Public Safety Headquarters.
Seven people were shot in the State Street incident at 11:10 p.m. Saturday. Five men — one 28, two 30, one 31, and one 32 — and two women — ages 28 and 30 — were wounded when a shooter opened fire on a crowd from a car.
On Sunday in the West Side’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, four people — three women, ages 26, 32, and 39, and a 39-year-old man — were wounded in a drive-by shooting in the 2700 block of West Haddon Avenue.
“It’s a holiday weekend, and that means there’s a greater possibility for pop-up parties,” said criminologist and Loyola University Chicago professor Arthur Lurigio.
Lurigio said the pleasant weather this weekend is also a contributing factor to the violence.
“Some of the shootings we saw this weekend — a total of about 55, and close to 10 people have been killed — have been outside in groups,” Lurigio said, “and that can account for the large number of people who were shot and shot at.”
CBS News Chicago took a closer look at the numbers, and found last holiday weekend, 31 people were shot in Chicago and five of them were killed. This year, 54 people had been shot as of Monday afternoon, and seven of them have been killed.
Police late Monday were not commenting on the increase or addressing questions, saying they will share finalized information on Tuesday when the holiday weekend is over.
But the national spotlight is now on Chicago with President Trump saying federal troops may be sent to the city. So far this year, President Trump has deployed the National Guard to Washington D.C. for a law enforcement crackdown and in Los Angeles in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“D.C. was an easy one to explain. Coming into Chicago is a different circumstance,” Lurigio said. “We don’t have a need for a national presence here, but this past weekend is going to be the precipitant to give Trump the opportunity to bring in the National Guard.”
For months, violent crime has been decreasing in Chicago. But Lurigio said he does not believe the overall decrease in violence will be what’s discussed after this weekend.
“Violence has not overall been increased, it’s been going down, but this weekend is a particularly violent weekend, and it coincides with a time the president has talked about bringing troops to Chicago,” he said. “There’s more challenges now for Chicago to stay out of the national media and international media. This weekend will provide opportunities for that media to increase attention on Chicago and will give Trump an easy and opportunistic chance to bring in the National Guard.”
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