While the Chicago mayor vows to fight plans to deploy federal agents in his city, some Chicagoans say they need help. Especially after 15 people were injured outside a funeral home on Tuesday.
A day later, the chief Chicago police called for the violence to stop. “There is no comfort in revenge, drop your weapons,” said Police Superintendent David Brown.
According to police, a black vehicle approached a funeral home in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, where a memorial service was being held when people in the vehicle started shooting. Funeral attendees returned fire and the vehicle drove away as its occupants continued to fire. The vehicle crashed in the middle of the block and the occupants left and fled in multiple directions.
Tuesday’s mass shootings are attributed to disputes between the city’s 117,000 gang members and combinations of drugs and weapons.
The funeral was for Donnie Weathersby, who was shot dead on July 14, CBS Chicago reported. Brown said Wednesday that Weathersby died in a shooting, prompting police to treat his funeral as a possible gang target.
“Taking a gun doesn’t solve anything, but it causes a lot of pain for life,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
In Chicago, there is a 50% increase in gunshot victims compared to last year. That number has increased more than 77% in New York City and 31% in Atlanta.
Among the victims in Atlanta, Secoria Turner, 8 years old He was shot dead in a shooting on the fourth of July. “I can’t even put my thoughts in order,” said Turner’s mother, Charmaine Turner. “I feel like it could have been avoided.”
The spike in crime comes as police across the country face daily protests calling for reform in the weeks after George Floyd’s death.
In New York City, that meant dissolving a plainclothes anti-crime unit often accused of being too aggressive.
Brooklyn County President Eric Adams, a former police officer, says the move was premature. When asked if dissolving the group was a mistake, Adams replied, “Yes.”
“The decommissioning was smart, but you have to rebuild after the decommissioning,” he said.
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