Chicago tops 700 homicides, with a month to go in violent 2016
CHICAGO _ In a year of relentless violence, Chicago has hit another gruesome milestone, exceeding 700 homicides on Wednesday for the first time in nearly two decades, according to official Police Department records.
It was not immediately clear which incident put the city at 701 homicides. At some point Wednesday, an April death was ruled a homicide. And then a fatal shooting took place about 8 p.m. in the South Shore neighborhood, said Frank Giancamilli, a police spokesman.
The year got off to a violent start with 50 homicides in January and rarely let up even after the end of the summer _ the peak season for shootings.
The numbers are simply off the charts. The 701 homicides through Wednesday marked a nearly 56 percent jump from the 450 killings a year earlier. With one month still to go, that represents the most homicides since 704 in 1998.
Nearly 4,050 people have been shot, a 50 percent jump from 2,699 victims a year earlier, according to the department statistics. Shooting incidents rose by comparable figures, to 3,315, up 49 percent from 2,224 a year earlier.
_Chicago Tribune
