CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Mayor Johnson and Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling hosted a public safety press conference Monday morning and vow to step up resources after a deadly Fourth of July weekend.
Snelling began the briefing by discussing a shooting in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood Friday that left two mothers and an eight-year-old boy dead.
He said he and the mayor visited the community and saw a grieving yet hopeful community.
“I saw a neighborhood that was heartbroken, angry, fed up, but I also saw a neighborhood that wanted to come together and come up with a plan to fight this type of violence, this type of senseless violence,” Snelling said.
Snelling confirmed that 19 people died over the holiday weekend, adding that more than 100 people were shot between Thursday and early Monday morning.
During the press conference, Snelling emphasized the importance of community members engaging with police so they can better help those communities dealing with violence.
“It’s really important that we work with our communities and that our communities understand that we are trying to work with those communities because, the more information that we get from communities, it’s helpful to help us apprehend these individuals who are committing these violent acts,” Snelling added.
He said CPD will be hosting a community assistance center Tuesday to offer resources and support for community members. It will be at Little Italy’s Fosco Park, located at 13th and Racine.
Johnson also took to the podium and said he takes personally the violence that swept across Chicago this weekend and is pushing hard for more support in confronting it.
“There will be consequences for the violence,” Johnson promised. “We will not let criminal activity ruin and harm our city.”
The grim mayor insisted there will be consequences for anyone who can walk into a home and see children and kill them. He added that the city also must deal with the conditions that lead to the violence and the availability of guns.
“When a 16-year-old has access to a AK-47, the violence began well before that weapon reached the hands of young people across this city, across this country…This has to change,” Johnson said.
The mayor said in the past bullets have entered his home on the West Side, forcing his family to take cover and he wants more federal help in dealing with that kind of violence.
“MY ultimate goal…is to transform this city so we cut off the pipeline of boys between the ages of 10 and 19 being either the victims or the perpetrators…It is personal,” said Johnson.
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