(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — With two months to go, Chicago has already seen more murders than in eight of the last 10 years.
At least 678 homicides were recorded in the city by the end of October. That is 17 more than this time last year, according to statistics released by the Chicago Police Department on Monday.
Last year ended with at least 775 homicides, the most in the city since 1996. Chicago could come close to that toll this year, though the pace of killings slowed in October, according to the department.
At least 59 people were killed this October compared to 69 last October.
The number of shootings, however, has not slowed down. At least 356 people were shot in October, compared to 344 for the same month last year, the department said. For the year, at least 3,766 people have been shot, compared to 3,443 this time last year.
The most violent year of the past 10 years is 2016, when at least 781 homicides were reported. Homicides dipped the next year, to at least 644, and continued to decline to 547 in 2018 and 501 in 2019 before spiking again.
There had been a similar decline before 2016: at least 435 homicides in 2011, 504 in 2012, 415 in 2013, 407 in 2014 and 478 in 2016.
For much of this year, homicides and shootings had been steadily increasing from last year. Of the city’s 72 neighborhoods, 50 are seeing either more homicides or about the same number as last year. Just 22 are faring better, according to Sun-Times data.
Many struggling neighborhoods continue to bear the brunt of violence: Austin, North Lawndale, Auburn-Gresham, West Garfield Park, West Pullman, South Shore, Roseland, Near West Side, South Lawndale and Washington Heights.
Over the last weekend, at least 28 people were hit by gunfire and six died. Four of those homicides occurred in police districts that cover some of these neighborhoods.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2021. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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