Escalating violence in Chicago: By the numbers
A look at the growing violence in Chicago and what lawmakers and police there are saying about it
Two teens who had been reported missing were among the four people killed and 54 people shot this weekend in Chicago, as the city's gun violence epidemic continued unabated.
The weekend tally was up compared to the same weekend in 2017, which saw 48 people shot and five killed, officials told Fox News on Monday.
Raysuan Turner, 16, and Darnelle Flowers, 17, were found Sunday night at about 11:57 p.m. shot to death in a field on the Far South Side of the city, police said. They had vanished day earlier, FOX 32 Chicago reported.
Earlier Sunday night, five people were shot after a weekly softball game in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. Police said a group of people had gathered for a game when a black van pulled up and someone in the vehicle opened fire. One of the victims was listed in serious condition, ABC 7 Chicago reported.
Across the city, the news of weekend shootings were coming in faster than police could get to the scene.
As Fox News previously reported, 25 people – including a 3-year-old boy – were shot in the city over a span of roughly 14 bloody hours from Friday afternoon to early Saturday.
Police said the child was shot in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side and transported to a children’s hospital in stable condition on Friday night.
During a back-to-school “peace picnic” held at a playground, police said three people were shot while a fourth person was beaten up. The event was held to promote peace and community.
“It’s senseless and should have never happened,” event organizer Raymond Hatcher told reporters. “We were doing well. Everything was going swell and then a group of guys who were not associated with us, came to the event intoxicated.”
Amid the surging violence and bloodshed, pressure has been building for action from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, or for his resignation. He came under fire this past week for comments linking the violence outbursts in his city and the moral character of people in some ethnic neighborhoods.
“This may not be politically correct," he said, "but I know the power of what faith and family can do. … Our kids need that structure. … I am asking … that we also don’t shy away from a full discussion about the importance of family and faith helping to develop and nurture character, self-respect, a value system and a moral compass that allows kids to know good from bad and right from wrong.”
Critics attacked him for laying blame on the victims of the violence.
Fox News’ Matt Finn contributed to this report.
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