As the city mourns victims of gun violence, we talk with Charles Woodhouse Jr., a survivor calling for healing.

Reginald Merrill will be held in jail on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated battery following his first appearance in court on Tuesday, three days after a shooting that left 7-year-old Natalia Wallace dead and another man injured.

From San Francisco to South Carolina, a spate of shootings claimed the lives of people celebrating or just taking a drive over the Fourth of July weekend. Chicago saw one of its bloodiest holiday weekends in memory.

One of Chicago’s bloodiest holiday weekends in memory ended with 17 people fatally shot, including a 7-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, and 70 more wounded, despite a concerted effort to quell the violence with an additional 1,200 police officers on the streets.

At least 13 people, including a 7-year-old girl at a family party and a teenage boy, were killed in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, police said. At least 59 others were shot and wounded.

With a rise in homicides and shootings in June, Mayor Lori Lightfoot calls for an “all-hands-on-deck approach” to stopping violence. And she orders a 14-day quarantine for travelers from states where COVID-19 is surging.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Auburn Gresham neighborhood was considered a hot spot for cases of COVID-19. It has recently become a hot spot for some of the city's increasing violence, too.

In the first six months of 2020, there have been 329 murders, matching the total recorded in the first half of 2016 – a year that ended with 762 homicides, according to Chicago Police Department data.

“As a dad ... I struggle to make sense of the reckless gun violence that continues to take the lives of our young people throughout the city,” Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said after 14 people were killed over the weekend.

Activists and local leaders called for more state and federal support Sunday as weekend shootings across Chicago left three children dead, including a 10-year-old who was struck by a stray bullet that came through an apartment window. 

Although mass shootings are down sharply this year, other non-suicidal gun deaths are on pace to exceed last year, according to incidents tracked by the Gun Violence Archive. 

Hospitals are on the front lines of healing gun violence victims, but some are taking more than just an emergency room role. We learn about the Chicago Hospital Engagement, Action and Leadership Initiative, or HEAL.

The Chicago Police Department’s latest crime figures show a 20% reduction in overall crime in May 2020 compared to last year. But year-to-date totals show an increase in shootings (30%) and homicides (25%) compared with the same time frame last year.

As peaceful protests entered their ninth day in Chicago, the police department announced it had arrested 1,258 people in three days during the unrest that swept the city after the death of George Floyd.

As unrest swept the city Sunday, aldermen pleaded with Mayor Lori Lightfoot to help them protect their communities from roving bands of criminals clashing with police and looting businesses.

Speaking on National Gun Violence Awareness Day, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Friday there has been a marked increase in gun violence in 2020, despite a stay-at-home order that was in place statewide for more than two months during the COVID-19 pandemic.