CHICAGO (WGNtv)— In a seven hour period between midnight Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday, 40 people were shot in Chicago, overwhelming area hospitals in a weekend of violence.
Preliminary totals show 10 people were killed and another 53 people were wounded in shootings between 5 p.m. on Friday and midnight Monday.
The violence included seven shootings in which three or more people were shot. In one shooting in Chicago’s Gresham neighborhood, eight people were shot — including four teenage girls.
Police Patrol Chief Fred Waller said Sunday that in some cases, gang members are using large summer crowds as cover. He says they “shoot into a crowd, no matter who they hit.”
Resources at local hospitals were taxed as shooting victims poured in. More than 200 people had converged on Stroger Hospital at one point, and access to the hospital was tightened. Mount Sinai Hospital had to stop accepting new emergency cases for a while, according to the Chicago Tribune.
West Side pastor Rev. Ira Acree, who was one of the organizers of last week's violence protest and march on the North Side, sent out the following statement: "Sadly, this horrific violence once again illustrates the two Chicagos that currently exist. One Chicago is enjoying outdoor meals, seeing shows, attending Lollapalooza while so many people in our neighborhoods are undergoing surgeries, sitting in hospital rooms and making funeral arrangements."
Rev. Jesse Jackson tweeted, "Nine dead, dozens shot, trauma centers overwhelmed. We need sensible gun control, a plan for urban reconstruction, futures, not funerals."
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson planned a Monday news conference to discuss the violence.
