Chicago Just Had Its Deadliest Weekend Of The Year

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 31, 2016 5:35PM



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This past weekend was deadliest so far of 2016—already one of the worst years in terms of gun violence in recent Chicago history.

Seventeen people were fatally shot, and 42 were wounded between Friday and early Monday, according to the Tribune. The city logged its 600th homicide this month. In 2015, Chicago had fewer than 500 murders all year.

The brutal rash of shootings occurred at the same time media attention and police resources focused heavily on the Cubs’ weekend World Series.

Chicago's deadliest weekend of the year was the same that hundreds of CPD officers were assigned to Wrigley Field https://t.co/2hDluQAQEi — Sam Charles (@samjcharles) October 31, 2016

As DNAinfo reported, Rev. Michael Pfleger called out the phenomenon as well:

"The Cubs Won last night....and that's Great.....but the City Lost this Weekend.....as of last Night at 11:00 pm we had 16 KILLED and 43 WOUNDED.....Until we get the Resources we need to Strengthen our Communities and offer options......and until We as a Community Decide we are going to Take Authority and STOP this Condition of Killing and Shooting........the City and most of all our Children will continue to lose!!!!!!"

“It was a tough weekend,” Chicago Police Supt. Johnson said on Monday, according to the Sun-Times.

Among those killed were 17-year-old twin brothers, who were fatally shot in Old Town early Sunday morning in what appears to have been a drive-by.

Some 1,000 law enforcement officers were stationed in the Wrigleyville neighborhood during the Cubs’ World Series home stand, according to police. Several SWAT vehicles were also spotted in and around the neighborhood as well.

Driving down LSD and saw a SWAT truck with a CPD escort going north. Any ideas? @PeterNickeas @SPOTNEWSonIG — Lyzette Austen (@VertigoMama) October 28, 2016

Criticism appeared to be building even before the full extent of the weekend violence was clear.

Who's paying for 4,000 cops guarding Wrigley? (Many guarding Starbucks) City's "broke"? Only when it comes to schools. — Mike Klonsky (@mikeklonsky) October 30, 2016

And in a Complex Sports piece published on Friday called "Cubs Fever and the Two Chicago," Evan Moore wrote of the racial and social divide that these playoffs have once again brought to fore in Chicago—which sadly now seems only further punctuated.