17 People Killed in Chicago's Deadliest Weekend, 41 People Wounded

RadioOnFire.com - It was one of the deadliest weekends of one of the most violent years ever for Chicago, with at least 17 people dying from gun violence in four days. At least 41 other people suffered gunshot wounds between Friday afternoon and Monday morning, according to the Chicago Tribune and the Sun-Times.

The victims were not just in the south side but spanned to nearly every part of the city. “It was a tough weekend,” Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a Monday press conference. Johnson has repeatedly called for the city to keep cracking down on rampant gun runners.

“Listen, until we start holding repeat gun offenders accountable for these crimes, we're going to keep seeing cycles of gun violence like this,” Johnson said.

Though he did not pinpoint a reason for the spike in shootings, he did deny speculation that the department diverted cops to Wrigley Field for Cubs World Series games. “I'm confident that we had the resources out there,” Johnson said, noting that most of the shootings were gang-related.

The youngest victim was Demarco Webster Jr., a 14-year old honors student who was already being recruited for an NAACP leadership program. He died Saturday morning while helping his father move out of a building.

Also among the dead were Edward and Edwin Bryant, 17-year old twins who sustained several shots each in a drive-by shooting on Sunday. They died in a hospital within an hour of each other. The brothers were with gang members at the time of the shooting, but neither brother had any affiliation, according to Johnson. Both brothers were star basketball players. Edward helped his Chicago Demons team with tournaments in Houston and Las Vegas this year. Edward “had a Kevin Durant look,” his coach Vince Carter said, and he had “been coming into his own in the last few years.”

Also among the victims was Brian Fields, a man who survived a shooting caught on Facebook Live in March. This time Fields did not make it and also died over the weekend when an unidentified gunman fired into his car Friday night.

Chicago typically sees its bloodiest weekends during summer holidays, and until now, Father's Day weekend was its deadliest of the year. Fifty-nine people were shot then, the same as this past weekend, but 13 died, while 17 died this time.

There have been at least 638 homicides in the city so far in 2016 — 217 more than this time last year. More than 3,660 people have been shot.

Source: nydailynews.com