CHICAGO (AP) _ Gunfire marred the warm spring weekend in Chicago, with at least 32 people shot _ six of them fatally _ between Friday and early Monday.
On Sunday, after the number of shootings reached 26 and the death count was at four, Chicago police Superintendent Jody Weis blamed an excess of guns and gangs for the rash of shootings.
"There are just too many weapons here," Weis said at a news conference. "Too many guns, too many gangs."
"We’ve got to get children back into being children," Weis said. "Not cold-blooded killers. Law enforcement cannot replace parents. Parents have to take a very aggressive role."
And after Weis made his statements, three more shootings were reported within two hours on the West Side late Sunday and early Monday, leaving left two more men dead and four more people wounded, police said.
Ironically, on Saturday, the police department issued new statistics showing that the city’s murder rate fell about 1 percent in March compared to March 2007.
"Even with the slight decreases in murders and shootings, there were still too many juveniles who were fatally shot or wounded by a firearm," Weis said in a release that accompanied the new statistics.
There were 19 shootings, including four homicides, during the same weekend last year, Chicago police statistics show, and in 2006 there were 21 shootings. (AP)
______ Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
