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Last week, President Joe Biden visited Chicago. That was
followed by the NASCAR street race over the weekend. Part of
that was delayed because of heavy rain bringing flash flooding.
Despite the heavy storms, reports in Chicago indicate over 33
people were shot, including five deaths over the Independence
Day holiday weekend.
Shooting victims included a 48-year-old woman who was shot
several times and a 15-year-old who was shot in the face. Both
were later pronounced dead.
Fred Waller, acting superintendent of the Chicago Police
Department, said the level of violence this past weekend was an
improvement from the year before, and that took a lot of
planning from the CPD.
"I still think that we did a great job overall," Waller said.
"You can't say to the people who lost their lives that we did a
great job, but the effort was there."
Waller said heavy rainfall could have also played a part in
keeping people off the streets.
"A lot of long-term planning went into NASCAR. We always plan
long term for the Fourth of July," Waller said. "Of course, the
weather being what it was for NASCAR, I'm sure that kept some
people off the street."
On Wednesday morning, police dealt with another violent
occurrence as an individual opened fire on a group gathered
outside in the Englewood neighborhood, shooting five people and
killing one. Many of the gatherings in the city over the weekend
were related to fireworks, which are illegal in the city and
throughout the state.
According to police, several calls related to the use of
fireworks went unattended. Waller said they could not respond to
every call.
"We have to really pull our resources to do other things when we
have shots fired and people battering each other," Waller said.
"So we need to really gauge what we are going to respond to as
far as the fireworks."
Chicago Police statistics show a decrease in shootings compared
to the same weekend last year when over 60 people were shot in
the city.
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