



With more than 675 homicides recorded so far this year, Chicago could easily surpass 700 homicides before the end of the year for the first time since 1998, according to data kept by the Tribune.



Violence usually declines during cold weather, but 2016 has been an exception. At least 50 people were killed in January, the deadliest start to a year since at least 2000. The last weekend in October was the deadliest weekend in Chicago in years.



Homicides are up in the city by 54 percent compared with the same period in 2015, and shootings are up 46 percent, according to Tribune data.