CHICAGO _ The city of Chicago went six days without a homicide, something that hasn't happened here since the end of 2012.
It was the longest stretch without a criminal homicide in the city since at least Dec. 3 to 9, 2012, according to city homicide data.
There have been fewer homicides so far this year than there were in the comparable period 2016, but more shootings overall. There were 109 homicides through March 5 in 2016; there have been 103 so far this year. There were 520 shootings through this date in 2016, and there have been 539 shootings so far this year, according to data kept by the Chicago Tribune.
About noon Saturday a man was found lying face down in the South Austin neighborhood. The medical examiner's office Sunday identified him as Antoine Watkins, 22, and determined his death was a homicide, caused by multiple gunshot wounds.
His death came six days after that of James Morris, 23, who on Feb. 26 was killed while sitting in a vehicle in near Douglas Park.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said there isn't one reason for the six days without a homicide, but that the department has seen promising results in two police districts where it has been devoting manpower and using predictive analytics technology that determines where to send officers and gunshot detection systems.
"We still have a lot of work to do but the predictive analytics is one of many ingredients. The largest one is the investment of officers with the partnership of communities," Guglielmi said.
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(Liam Ford contributed to this report.)
