Wednesday, July 10, 2013

CHICAGO: A No Gun Zone where Violence reverberates through the City

H/T Joel2013
Smoke hung over 47th Street as a man fired a silver handgun down the block in the blue light of dawn. Two cars raced past, blowing the red light as they sped toward the Dan Ryan Expressway not far away. 
Two SUVs quickly followed, but only made it another block before one rammed the other and stopped dead in the road, its hood crumpled and its engine smoking. 
Two young men, one in a white T-shirt and the other in a red T-shirt, jumped out and ran, leaving the SUV in the middle of 47th just east of Racine Avenue. Minutes later, a police car pulled up and an officer got out shouldering an AR-15 assault rifle as he made a wide circle around the passenger side. His partner slowly approached the driver's side with her hand on her gun.
No one was inside. 
It was just one scene in a city where gunfire has long been too common. In the first six months of this year, more than 1,000 people were shot in Chicago, according to a Tribune analysis. 
The trends have been positive this year, with the number of shootings and homicides running below last year's tragic spike, but similar to other recent years. The regular weekly statistics released by Chicago police include the number of shooting incidents, not the number of victims. Even if an incident involves multiple victims, it is counted as a single shooting. But the Tribune analysis focused on the number of victims. 
A quick glance at a map of these shootings shows that this violence takes an inordinate toll on a swath of the city spanning West Pullman on the Far South Side to Austin on the western edge. Night after night, guns pop and scenes unfold.
CLICK ON the Map below for the Interactive version:



Read the rest of the story HERE.

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