As the mayor of Chicago vows to fight plans to deploy federal agents in her city, some Chicagoans are saying they need help. Especially after 15 people were wounded outside a funeral home on Tuesday.
A day later, Chicago’s top cop made a plea for the violence to stop. “There is no comfort in revenge, put the guns down,” said Police Superintendent David Brown.
According to police, a black vehicle approached a funeral home in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood where a memorial service was taking place when people in the vehicle began firing. Funeral attendees fired back and the vehicle drove away as its occupants continued firing. The vehicle crashed about halfway up the block and the occupants got out and fled in multiple directions.
Tuesday’s drive-by mass shooting is attributed to feuds between the city’s 117,000 gang members, and combinations of drugs and guns.
The funeral was for Donnie Weathersby, who was shot and killed on July 14, 360aproko news Chicago reported. Brown said Wednesday that Weathersby was killed in a drive-by shooting, leading police to treat his funeral as a potential gang target.
“Picking up a gun solves nothing, but causes so much lifelong pain,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
In Chicago, there is a 50% increase in shooting victims compared to last year. That number is up more than 77% in New York City and 31% in Atlanta.
Among the victims in Atlanta, 8-year-old Secoria Turner was gunned down in a shooting on the Fourth of July. “I can’t even gather my thoughts,” said Turner’s mother, Charmaine Turner. “I just feel like it could have been prevented.”
The spike in crime comes as police across the country face daily protests calling for reform in the weeks since the death of George Floyd.
In New York City, that meant disbanding a plainclothes anti-crime unit often accused of being overly aggressive.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former cop, says the move was premature. Asked whether disbanding the the group was a mistake, Adams replied, “Yes.”
“The dismantling was smart, but you need to rebuild after the dismantling,” he said.
