Riots broke out again in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend, leaving more than 20 people shot and nearly 10 dead.
By Monday evening, 28 people had been shot, seven fatally, and two had been stabbed to death.
Ten people were shot on both Saturday and Sunday.
Among the dead was 5-year-old Rain Ware, who was shot in the abdomen while sitting in her father’s parked car in the 200 block of South Campbell Avenue about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, according to Chicago police. She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she later died.
A 24-year-old man, who the family did not know, was also taken to the same hospital with a gunshot wound to the left thigh and was listed in stable condition, police said.
According to a police report obtained by the Sun-Times, about 60 shell casings were found at the scene after a black Jeep Cherokee pulled up and someone inside began firing shots. Investigators believe someone may have fired shots from a nearby alley.
About 30 minutes earlier, a 28-year-old man, a 33-year-old woman and an 18-year-old woman were shot by an unknown gunman in the 1300 block of South Christiana Avenue, police said. The three were taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where the man was pronounced dead. An older woman was in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the leg, and a younger woman was in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the left leg.
Police said officers responding to a report of shots fired late Friday night found the bodies of two men in an Albany park. The older victim, 21-year-old Jayme Serrano, has been identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. The other victim, a 20-year-old man, has not been identified.
Last year’s Memorial Day weekend saw shootings across the city leaving 12 people dead and 48 injured, making it the city’s most violent weekend since 2016, when 71 people were shot.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Friday they are addressing violent weekends by reducing mandatory overtime for officers and prioritizing community well-being through youth and social programs. Last year, Chicago Police Interim Superintendent Fred Waller continued the practice of canceling officers’ days off to increase staffing during particularly violent weekends.
“My administration will not rest, and neither will anybody here rest until we address this issue and stop the violence,” Johnson said Friday.
