52 Shot, 8 Fatally Over The Weekend; 2 Others Stabbed To Death
CHICAGO (CBS) -- On the heels of the most violent weekend of the year, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said he wants to make sure there's not a repeat of the bloodshed.
Johnson vented his frustration Monday morning, after 52 people were shot over the weekend. Ten people were slain overall, including two deadly stabbings in the deadliest weekend of 2019 so far.
The superintendent called the level of violence over the past 72 hours "despicable."
Police said a large majority of the shootings were connected to gang conflicts. Much of the bloodshed was concentrated primarily on the West Side, but it did spill into other areas, including Streeterville, where four people were shot near Northwestern University's law school early Saturday morning.
Johnson said officers made 18 gun-related arrests over the weekend and seized 92 illegal weapons – nearly double the number of firearms confiscated on a typical weekend.
Johnson said officers can't keep the city safe if there aren't real repercussions for carrying illegal guns.
"If we keep arresting them multiple times, then where do we need help from?" he said. "It's not that police officers aren't arresting them, because they are. It's not that the police officers aren't arresting them with weapons, because they are. We have to get better, not just in Chicago, but all over this country, we have to get better at holding people with illegal weapons accountable."
Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office said she planned to meet with Johnson on Monday to review a report of the weekend's crime.
Despite the spate of violence this weekend, Chicago Police Department statistics show shootings over the first five months of the year are down 13 percent compared to the same period last year.
Overall crime is down 9 % year-to-date.
The police department said their summer crime plan includes special teams to patrol CTA trains and stations, bike officers monitoring high-traffic areas and the summer mobile team, a group deployed during large events.
