47 Shot. 5 Dead. Chicago Officials Meet
Lorenzo Ferrigno, CNN, July 21, 2014
After an 11-year-old girl was shot and killed by a stray bullet while sitting on a friend’s bedroom floor, Chicago officials met Monday to discuss the city’s recent surge in gun violence.
The girl was just one of 47 shooting victims in Chicago over the weekend, five of which were fatal, according to statistics released by the Chicago Police Department.
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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel met Monday with the Chicago Police superintendent and community leaders to discuss violence in their city, an event scheduled before the uptick in gun violence over the weekend.
“Our kids only get heard when there is a shot, be it a basketball shot or a bullet shot. There are other kids out there,” Emanuel said at the meeting.
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Emanuel went on to say that public safety in Chicago goes beyond police and into investments in after-school and summer job programs, gun law enforcement and penalties and community building.
The violent weekend in Chicago follows a deadly Independence Day weekend when more than 60 people were shot and nine were killed, according to police statistics.
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy blamed weak gun laws for the spurt of holiday violence.
“There has to come a tipping point where this changes,” McCarthy said then of the violence. “The illogical nature of what’s happening here–that government can intercede and prevent this from happening is overwhelming. And I refuse to think otherwise in a great country like America that we can continue to allow this to happen–not just on a state, but on a federal level.”
