At least 60 people were shot, including 12 fatally, in a number of incidents over the weekend, according to the Chicago Police Department.
Many of the incidents appear to involve random bystanders.
Earlier this week, Chicago police said that while overall crime is down 9%, they have seen increases in murders (48%) and shootings (46%) compared to the same time period in 2019. The weekend’s tally is, so far, actually a decrease from last weekend’s where 13 people were killed.
Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, told CNN it’s possible the increases in violent crime in the U.S., which still lags significantly behind crime rates the U.S. saw in the 1990s, could be connected to the unrest spurred by the police killing of George Floyd since when people do not trust the police, they may think they need to seek justice or settle disputes themselves.
However, vigilante justice can lead to innocent people being caught in the crossfire. Last week, a 1-year-old boy in Brooklyn was shot while sitting in his stroller at a picnic.
Rosenfeld also told CNN that states and cities re-opening from coronavirus lockdown is inarguably leading to these increases.
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