Another deadly weekend in Chicago saw 54 people shot, 12 of them fatally. That’s more than the number of people who were shot and killed over last weekend’s long Labor Day holiday.
More shockingly, the number of people who have been shot in Chicago so far this year exceeds the number of people who have died from COVID-19. Although blacks make up 32 percent of the city’s population, they account for more than 40 percent of the COVID deaths, as reported by WGN-9 in Chicago.
WGN-9 also reported that of the 2,898 Chicago’s citizens who have died from the coronavirus, blacks account for 43 percent of those deaths.
The Chicago Tribune reported this morning that the number of people shot in Chicago so far this year is 2,941. That’s about 1,000 more people than were shot at this time last year. The majority of those shot and killed are black.
Another disturbing trend has more women being shot and killed than in the past. Of the 54 people shot during the weekend, 11 were women. Three of them were killed just on Saturday.
As the country’s pharmaceutical companies race to find a vaccine for the coronavirus, Chicago is in a race to exceed the number of shootings in any previous year. There were 2,992 shootings in Chicago for the entire year in 2016. At the current rate, Chicago will beat that number before the end of this month.
People in Chicago are dying. It begs the question, which is deadlier – the coronavirus or the citizens? Which are they more interested in stopping – the coronavirus or the shootings?
Image from: chicago.suntimes.com
