Crime & Law
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said city officials and police brass are “ill-equipped to evaluate and improve response times, simply because, more often than not, we have no information on when the police arrive to respond to an emergency.”
Monthly CPD data published Tuesday shows that the city has recorded 418 homicides, 1,677 shootings and 1,988 shooting victims in 2023 through the end of August. Each of those totals is the fewest through the first eight months of a year since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to preliminary Chicago Police Department data, 39 people were shot in 33 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday. In addition to the six people who were fatally shot, a seventh person died of blunt force trauma.
Melvin Jordan, 47, was arrested and charged this week with two counts each of attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping and unlawful restraint, along with a single count of unlawful use of a weapon.
White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf Says He Doesn’t See How Shooting Could Have Occurred Inside Ballpark
Two women were injured in a shooting during the team’s 12-4 loss to Oakland last week. Chicago police are investigating what happened, including whether the gun was fired inside or outside of the facility.
Ramon Sumerlin, 41, is charged with child endangerment resulting in death and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon stemming from the Aug. 15 shooting of Jacari Brown.
The shooting happened at around 9 p.m. Wednesday, police said in a news release, noting that 29 shots were fired.
Chicago is the center of attention when it comes to talking about crime data in a national context. Experts caution that interpreting numbers without examining the underlying influences can lead to misunderstandings.
Details about the incident remain scarce, days after a 42-year-old woman was shot in the leg and a 26-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to the abdomen, which occurred in the fourth inning of the Sox’s Friday game against the Oakland Athletics.
America’s gun epidemic claimed more than 48,000 lives in 2022, federal data shows. And gun violence has become the leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States. But most gun injuries are not fatal, leaving thousands of victims to live with the resulting trauma.
Madigan, 81, once so dominant that he was known as the “velvet hammer,” was at the heart of the allegations that led to 32 guilty verdicts in those trials. He now faces an uphill battle to avoid guilty convictions to match his former chief of staff Tim Mapes and longtime political confidant Mike McClain.
The Chicago Fire Department on Tuesday confirmed 59-year-old Lieutenant Kevin Ward has died at the Loyola University Medical Center.
Larry Snelling will become Chicago’s next police superintendent — if he’s confirmed by the Chicago City Council. The 30-year police veteran says he vows to improve community relations under his tenure.
The court-mandated oversight was prompted by the 2014 murder of teenager Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer. Almost five years later, the department is in full compliance with just over 5% of the requirements.
With the second week of classes already under way, WTTW News reporter Joanna Hernandez moderated a live virtual conversation on back-to-school safety for children and youth in Chicago as part of the WTTW News: A Safer City initiative.
Interim Police Superintendent Fred Waller said Monday his department has “almost completely dispelled” the idea that the shots that injured two women were fired from outside the ballpark, according to reporting from the Chicago Tribune.