More than 100 Chicagoans have been shot in the first 10 days of 2016 — a jarring figure three times more than last year.
At least 19 people were shot and killed between New Year’s Day and Monday morning, including someone gunned down just blocks away from the mayor’s home, the Chicago Tribune reported. Another 101 were injured by firearms.
Those shocking figures far surpass last year’s tally: During the same time period in 2015, nine people had been killed and 31 had been injured. By the end of the year, nearly 3,000 people had been shot.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi blamed the surge in gun violence — which has killed on average two people every day this year — on gangs.
“So far this year, the majority of the gun violence we've seen are a result of chronic gang conflicts driven in part by social media commentary and petty disputes among rival factions,” he said in a statement.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi blamed the surge in gun violence on gangs.
He pushed for a weapons crackdown in the wake of the terrifying amount of shootings this year.
"Every year Chicago Police recover more illegal guns than officers in any other city, and as more and more illegal guns continue to find their way into our neighborhoods it is clear we need stronger state and federal gun laws," Guglielmi said.
The 2016 shootings include a Friday afternoon attack just four blocks from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home. During an argument at an apartment party, an attendee pulled out a gun, killed one person and wounded two others, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
At least 2,986 people were shot in Chicago in 2015. Those killed last year include a 55-year-old mother of five accidentally shot by cops and a 9-year-old allegedly gunned down by members of his father’s rival gang.
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