Pensacola, fl
Activists and local leaders called for more state and federal support , as weekend shootings in Chicago killed three children, including a ten-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet that came from an apartment window.
Saturday night’s deaths were among at least 10 dead since Friday evening, which followed a fatal weekend for Father’s Day and fresh concerns about a violent summer ahead. A one-year and 17-year-old was also killed.
“He’s out of control as even innocent children lose their lives,” said neighborhood activist Raul Montes Jr., who planned a protest on Sunday evening on the southwest side of the city.
He called for federal intervention while the state legislator announced a new task force to address key issues.
“Violence is a consequence of poverty and must be addressed with services and human support,” said La Sean Ford, a Chicago Democrat, in a statement. The group called on federal leaders, leaders and cities for support.
A wave of recent shootings in Chicago and other cities has had authorities on the brink. Experts say deaths from non-suicide weapons are on the right track last year. The news comes at a time when the American public deals with the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic implications, and increased awareness of racial injustice and the police, and deep political divisions in the presidential election year.
“The pain of losing a child never goes away,” Lori Mayor Lightfoot said on Twitter .
As a mother, I am fed up with funerals. I am tired of burying our children.
Her office said that the multifaceted approach to reducing violence in the coming months would include a street awareness program worth $ 7.5 million as the police partnered with organizations and the operations center last month. Staff from the park area, schools, and the transportation agency will work to “extend the city’s footprint in places where recent shootings and killings have occurred.”
The 10-year-old girl died in a hospital after the shooting in Logan Square, northwest of downtown, around 9:40 p.m., police spokesman Roberto Gardono said.
He said that preliminary information showed that the shooting came from a group of men who were shooting at each other in the block. No one was in custody .
In the Englewood neighborhood on the south side of the city, a one-year-old boy riding in the back of a car driven by his mother was injured when someone shot from another car. The mother suffered a head wound. The boy was identified as Sincere A. Gaston.
The police said the motive behind the shooting was unclear.
Supervisor David Brown appealed to the public for someone to come up with details.
We all need anger at the violence we are seeing in our city, “he said in a statement.” This child and all of our residents deserve the best.
This is not just a problem that Englewood needs to solve. This is not just a problem on the southern or western side. We cannot divide the violence that is tearing families and societies apart.
His office was not immediately suspended.
The 17-year-old, known as Antiwon Douglas, was killed around 11:30 am Saturday. Police said he got into a fight and a person from a large crowd gathered in the Humboldt Garden neighborhood on the western side of the city fired shots.
During Father’s Day weekend, 14 people were killed, including five children, and more than 100 were injured, making up the largest number of city shooting victims in one weekend this year.
