Chicago’s wave of murderous gun violence continued over the weekend, as five people were killed and at least 18 wounded in shootings in the nation’s third-largest city.
Chicago has grabbed the national headlines over the past year as the violence has seemed so senseless and random. In one notable instance, 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was killed in a park not far from the Obamas’ Chicago home just a week after performing with her school band in the president’s inaugural parade.
Still, despite the media reports, Chicago actually ranked all the way down at No. 79 on The NeighborhoodScout’s recent list of the 100 most dangerous cities in the U.S. In Chicago, the danger is mostly concentrated in a few bad neighborhoods—indeed, the city had 4 of the 25 most dangerous neighborhoods on The NeighborhoodScout’s list, with the area of South Halsted Street and West 77th Street coming in 4th, behind three neighborhoods in Detroit. According to the website, chances of becoming a victim of violent crime in this Chicago neighborhood are 1 in 9.
The fatal shootings over the weekend included the death of 53-year-old Edward Jordan, who was shot in the neck at around 2:10 a.m. Sunday morning in the West Side neighborhood of Austin, in the 300 block of South Cicero.
Shaneda LAwrence, 30, was shot in the head and killed at around 9:15 p.m. Saturday when shots were fired into a group of people at Ryan Harris Memorial Park in the Englewood neighborhood. A woman in her 20s also was shot in the wrist, while a 24-year-old man was shot in the back.
A teenager, Clifton Barney, 17, was found with a gunshot wound in his chest at 7:24 p.m. on Friday in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The spate of weekend violence came just after the gun violence prevention group CeaseFire Illinois held a Friday press conference to predict that the downward trend in gun violence seen in March and April would continue throughout the year.
“When we had all the homicides in Chicago in January of this year, CNN came to town. MSNBC came,” CeaseFire Illinois Director Tio Hardiman said, according to DNAinfo. “CNN should be here today. MSNBC should be here today. But no violence, no news.”
