E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Rich Hein/Chicago Sun-Times
Janice Watson signs a memorial for Joseph Briggs, a 16-year-old who was killed Saturday, as Joseph's sister Maggie, 17, right, looks on in the Marquette Park neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, Sunday.
A series of shootings in Chicago over the weekend left eight people dead, including a 16-year-old, and more than 40 people wounded, according to NBCChicago.com.
During one particularly bloody stretch overnight Saturday, about 20 people were shot, police said.
"None of it is OK," Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy told NBCChicago.com. "And I don't want it to seem like we're managing it, but the realistic expectations have to be over the long-term."
The youngest to die from the weekend gun violence was 16-year-old Joseph Briggs, shot on his front porch in Marquette Park, police said, adding that the shooting may have been gang-related.
The teen’s grandmother, who was raising him and his sisters, told the Chicago Sun-Times she did not believe Briggs was the intended target, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Courtesy Chicago Sun-Times
Joseph Briggs, 16, was killed Saturday night on his front porch in Marquette Park, Chicago.
She said her grandson’s murder has caused her to think about relocating.
“There’s been a lot of shootings on this block,” Josephine Briggs said to the Sun-Times. “Once I bury him, I’m going to try and move."
McCarthy said guns and gang activity remain a huge issue for the city but he maintains overall crime in Chicago is down 10 percent.
"Crime reduction is a process," McCarthy said. "We implement the strategies and the question is are we doing better than we were last year. And the answer is yes."
After a bad first quarter that saw a 60 percent spike in murders over the previous year, McCarthy said, shootings are down eight percent in the second quarter and gun recovery is up 20 percent.
He pointed out that this time last year 17 people were murdered in a week.
"It's not something we want to declare victory about, but it's progress," McCarthy said. "You have to have that perspective and it's the reality."
The first shootings of the weekend happened around 4:43 p.m. on Friday near the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the southwest side of the city, where two men were killed and three others were wounded.
Rashuan Stephany, 22, and Mario Jackson, 26, were standing outside with three others when two unknown men approached them on foot and fired shots, Chicago police spokesman Daniel O’Brien told the Sun-Times.
Stephany and Jackson were pronounced dead a short while later at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- US Commerce secretary in car crashes suffered a seizure
- Chicago's bloody weekend: 8 dead, 40-plus wounded
- Sandusky child sex-abuse trial under way
- 3 killed, 3 wounded in shooting near Auburn University
- Report: NYPD fires Orthodox Jew recruit for refusing to trim beard
- Video: Stepfather in hot water for child beating
Leave a Comment:
Chicago is too big , geographically, the way the city is operated none of the law enforcement people live in the neighborhoods they work in, so it's a detached citizen-government relationship that does not support the society, there is no real concern about what is happening in the neighborhoods, citizens need to ascend from the city government and form and run their own communities.
WTF!
You'd think they're talking about Somalia or something. Unbelievable.
I read a lot of "gun control", "NRA" crap but hey, gun control doesn't work. We need "scum bag ass holes" control.
stay the F down in Chicago too, sending all the other thuggish idiots already here in Minnesota back your way.
this will never stop until we have some gun control but oh dear lord, we can't have that can we? welcome to the jungle. god help us all..
Enforcement is the solution. Now we have to decide what kind of enforcement. I'd really rather spend some money making our cities safer, than fighting muslims in a third world country for corporations. Aren't we rather hypocritical by resorting to guns to solve the world's problems and then say individual's are criminals? Who is the biggest murderer of them all? Hypocrites.
You don't have to put most offenders in prison for life, but tatoo felon across their face, microchip them like dogs, identify them so that even after they serve their time, they are instantly identifiable and traceable. Remove the microchip? He's classified as a repeat offender. Repeat offenders of any felony = life without parole and hard labor. For those more vengeance minded, capital punishment for repeat offenders (though I find violence against the violent to be rather hypocritical also). The consequences for the crimes must be harsh, equitable (no rich white guys circumventing the law), and enforceable. People can change. A teenager shooting a gun as a gang member, can see the error of his ways and change. But he did the crime. That microchip goes with him to the grave. He may never comit another crime and become a productive citizen, but if he continues a criminal career, then he gets treated like the dog that he is and eventually he probably needs to be put down.
Way to go dawn...it sounds like u have just suggested putting the mark of the beast on mankind.
For people to change and see the error of their ways, simply locking them up is not the answer. If u do nothing to rehab, the problem will continue to exist.
lets put up a picture of this young hood is his hoodie in gang colors and then print your story. Zimmerman is tried in the press but you have the false action of painting a good picture of this gang member. Where were his parents OH the father (unknown) is gone and his mother is out whoring. He is left to run wild and u show a picture of a clean cut youth. the new strikes again
Yea...funny that. This gang-banger is MSNBC's new "Man-In-Da-Hood"
...maybe he has relatives on MSNBC's staff - it sure seems that way when you look at how the Zimmerman case has been handled by the editors at MSNBC
It seems that some of you guys here have forgotten that caucasions have done crimes against humanity too. Just a few for example: The holocaust, Trail of tears, Slavery and not to mention the enslaving and killing of my people for their land. But i guessed none of that happened correct? When a minority does something all hell breaks loose, but when a white person does something you ignore it? It never happened? It was within reason? The hypocrisy is strong within you guys, seriously. I'm just glad not everyone one in the human race is racist and has an ounce of sense or we would have killed each other off years ago.
(Me being native american, this hit's home personally. Not because I've experienced it, but because people within my family have and nobody messes with family.)
@Jadediamond I agree. When will the racism stop. It's so stupid (and I'm caucasion).
It's true all of that happened 250 years ago, we're supposed to be more civilized in 2012. You can't compare modern america today and the Country 250 years ago. Those Colonialists didn't know anything about American Indians or where they came from. Racism starts from people like you who don't refer to yourself as an AMERICAN instead you're MY PEOPLE. Stop separating Americans into small groups and classes if you want racism to end. Because all PEOPLE OF ANY RACE HAS A STORY TO TELL, YOU'RE NOT ALONE. If you want to bring up the slavery problem, more White Europeans were captured and enslaved than Africans prior to the United States becoming a Country (Irish, Dutch, Italians, French Huegonots, Catholics etc...) Irish immigrants were captured in Portland, Maine and many other places and taken to the docks through underground caverns from the main City where they would get drunk and captured and shipped to the Middle East. They were refered as indentured servants but they were still slaves. All Slavery is awful, don't get me wrong but the United States was only responsible for 5% of Black Slaves taken from around the World and the first major Nation to End Slavery following a bloody civil war where close to one million Men and Women were killed. And to top it all off there are over 204 million Slaves in the World today, mostly women and children for rich Middle Easterners and African Muslims. Perhaps we need to try to stop Slavery today.
Please, have a high regard for life. As the African proverb says: "A person is a person only through their relationship to others". We're destroying ourselves, it seems.
The African Proverb says: you are a person only as a person through your relationship to others. Life is all we have.
What a shame. I young 16 year old boy is dead. God rest his soul and give peace and comfort to his grandmother and sisters. That is the biggest tragedy of all.
Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Duh! So many stupid people in these posts.
Come on folks, people kill, not guns. Cut and Shoot, Texas, just north of Houston has the highest gun carry pemits in the nation and extremely low crime rate imagine that. Criminals know they Will be shot by Gun Toting Conservative Americans. Plus, even if you did take away their guns they would simply emulate their African counterparts who use macheties to butcher their enemies, neighbors, anyone in front of them. Just read news reports from Africa on ANY given day, or watch Blackhawk Down. No respect for Human Life.
The State of Illinois and Chicago in particular have the most restrictive gun policies in the nation, even worse than New York , these mass killings are common place. You would think the liberals would see that gun control has an opposite effect. People who are criminals will break the law regardless what they law might be. It's so stupid to think some homey who just got out of the pen and wants to hit a liquor store will cease because guns are illegal, how ignorant can they be. All this means is the crook will have a gun and rob five people knowing most people won't be armed because they follow the law.
As much as we need the rights to carry or own guns for protection against criminals, in this day of an overzealous government who spies on Americans with Drones, we need our guns to protect us from fascism. America is in more danger from our own government now than at any time since the Revolution. I've never been afraid of my government until this recent administration.
The problem is that too many people are buying guns legally using their right to buy as many guns as they want and then selling these guns to criminals at a profit. Why can't we stop the flow of guns into these communities. Of course the criminals will buy them. But every gun that a criminal has was first bought legally by someone. Stopping gun trafficking is the reason that people want tougher gun control. These guns are not staying in the hands of the people who bought them legally. The legal buyers keep selling them to criminals because they are not from the neighborhoods that the guns end up in and they don't have to deal with the consequences. People are intentionally profiting off of other's misery.
Gun control was the first thng that both Hitler and Stalin did in their countries before WW2. An armed society is a safe society and look how many times Switzerland has been invaded over the years. Gun control is like a lock as it only keeps an honest person honest. Bring a single .22 shell to Massachutes and have the police find it in your possession go to jail for a year. Has that stopped the shootings ? Nope Criminals count on the citizens being unarmed and take advantage as they know they will not be killed or injured. Concealed carry should be mandatory in Chicago, Detroit and other large cities. Samual Colt made all men equal and nothing will change unless Society gets fed up with gangland violence and no jail time for the criminals Three strikes and execution on the third arrest makes sense like back in the 1930's in Texas and other states.
Another fine weekend in Obamy Land.
THis is verry ssssimple...get Eric Holder to furnish a gun to every black person in chicago....build a fence around the city like the mexican border ....surround the fence with aligators, poisonous snakes, pit bulls, and the Seals.....it should only take a few days for the good black people to wipe out the gangs and criminals cause there are a whole lot more good black people in chicago than bad ones.....just a thought
Yes, the criminals have illegal guns. The question is - where do all of these illegal guns come from. Wake up people! The problem is this - people, other than the criminals, buy the guns legally then sell them to the criminals who can not get them legally. Then the person who bought the gun legally reports it as lost or stolen or files off the serial number so that it can not be traced back to them when used in a crime. Some people make a living doing this and they are not black people from the hood. This is a multi-million if not billion dollar industry. People asking for more gun control want to stop the ability of people to buy an unlimited number of guns legally. No one needs hundreds or thousands of guns for personal protection. If people who bought the guns legally stopped selling them to criminals on the black market, these criminals would not have a source of guns to use to terrorize their neighborhoods. Currently as it is, a lot of people are making a lot of money off of street violence. Those who buy the guns legally and the gun manufacturers would lose a lot of money if they could not sell guns illegally to criminals. This is the reason that they are fighting tougher gun control laws. And gun control laws in Chicago are useless when the guns come from a state that allows people to buy as many guns as they want and then claim that the guns continuously are lost and stolen. I am sorry but if you lose or get guns stolen from you more than a couple of times, then you should not be able to buy guns any longer because you have proven that you do not have the ability to keep it secure. No one is trying to infringe on anyone's rights but people are intentionally making a profit off of illegal gun sales. Illegal gun trafficking is a multi-million dollar industry and the people involved do not care about the repercussions of their profit because it is not their communities that are plagued with violence as a result of their actions.
And for all of you who are commenting about black people - the fact is that the majority of black people are not involved in criminal behavior. It is small segment of the black population but this small segment causes a lot of harm. It is a criminal culture that stems from a poverty culture. The majority of the blacks in these communities are victims of something that they can not control. That is the reason that we want the the source of illegal guns to stop. Yes, those who traffic the guns and gun manufacturers would lose a lot of money but a lot of lives would be saved and the innocent people living in these communities could enjoy the quality of life that they deserve.
As far as Chicago- we all know that they tore down the crime infested Cabrini Green housing projects because of the crime and violence that took place there. Well now those 15,000 people that lived there are spread throughout the city. The crime problem is no longer contained in that one area. The criminals that lived there moved into neighborhoods, mostly black neighborhoods, that were not crime infested before their arrival. This has happened in urban cities across the countries due to the closing of high-rise housing projects that has swept the nation over the past decade. Why aren't all of you outraged at what the majority of the black population has to deal with now? These people were criminally minded when they lived in the projects and now they are terrorizing the neighborhoods that they moved into. It has caused property values of black homeowners to plummet. And it was a stupid move. The crime was contained for the most part and now it is spread throughout the city. Makes no logical sense at all. And this is the reason for the rise in crime in black neighborhoods over the past decade. A criminal element with guns that was contained in the projects was let loose on communities where the people did not have guns as a norm. And whose bright idea was this? It was not a black man's idea. This trend was put into place by the federal government. Cities were given federal money to tear down the projects quickly and no one thought about the consequences that it would have on the law-abiding citizens when the criminals moved into their neighborhoods. They say that they thought the project people would assimilate into the neighborhoods and learn how to live as law-abiding citizens from the people already living there and doing so. But that was a foolish idea because these criminals don't care about their neighbors, do not value the property they live in because they do not own it (and had never owned anything), and did not have the social skills needed to live an honest life. And for those who don't realize this - there are different social classes within the black community. Over 70% of black people are not and have never been poor. And for the most part, black people associate with other blacks who are in their social class. For example, I am almost 40 years old and I never had friends that lived in the projects. The projects were something that you stayed away from. The crime that comes out of the projects is part of the poverty culture that existed there. Over 70% of blacks have never been a part of that poverty culture that leads to a criminal lifestyle. Has anyone ever thought about what it was like to have a nice house in a nice neighborhood and then all of a sudden gun toting thugs start moving in? Or how now, all of a sudden, your kids are faced with interacting with kids that have no type of upbringing, are in gangs and shoot guns? How does one prepare for this and how do you fight back? All of you on this blog are so quick to lump all black people together and put us down as a race. What happened to having compassion for your fellow American? I am a black American who makes more than 6% of all other Americans and I am affected by this more than you. My family has always been hard-working and middle class. I live in a black neighborhood where the majority of residents owned and took care of their homes. About ten years ago, there began to be a wave of massive construction -"new houses" popping up in every empty lot you could find. They squeezed these new houses into spaces that you would have thought was even to small to build a house. It didn't seem to make any sense. The construction was low quality and fast. The builders of these houses rented them to people with the vouchers given to those who lived in the projects that were torn down. Then people started buying existing property and renting them to people with these government vouchers. They knew that the vouchers were guaranteed income because you don't take the risk of whether someone will pay their rent, you get paid straight from the government. Rental ads in my neighborhood changed form "No Section 8" to "Section 8 Welcomed". The good kids from the neighborhood now had to find a way to defend and protect themselves from the project kids. How does a kid protect themselves from other kids who are in gangs and have guns? They adapt and often are forced to carry guns themselves.
This whole thing is tragic and it is sad that none of you even thought about what has happened to your fellow, law-abiding American citizens because they are black and you have convinced yourself that we are no good and you are better because you lack the melanin that gives us natural sun protection. It is true that blacks have always gotten a bad rap and been considered last in this country of mine that was founded and fueled to economic prosperity by the forced labor of my ancestors. (There is no way that this country would have become a superpower so quickly if white people were not able to profit off of the free labor of slaves.) Whatever - but perhaps you should remember what Jesus said, ""So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Matthew 20:16
{Note: I would like to make it clear that I am in no way saying that all poor people from the projects lead a criminal lifestyle and I am only referring to the white people who are posting racist comments about me as a black person.)
Let me correct something before all the racists state that I am ignorant because I am black. I meant to state above that I am in the top 6% of income earners in this country not that I make more than 6% of Americans.
If the City of Chicago would allow people to exercise their Second Amendment rights, the victims would have been able to defend themselves. When guns are outlawed, only criminals have guns. Criminals are free to rob, rape, and kill with the assurance that the victims are unarmed, helpless, and defenseless.
When every second counts, the police are only several minutes away.
What about those who do not want to have be in gun fights? We just want peace and a good quality of life. Not everyone has the heart to be killers. What about the church-going and older people in these communities? Why should we be forced to live like we are in the wild west? Isn't our government supposed to protect us? We spend billions fighting terrorism in other countries. What about the terrorism that is going on right here affecting American citizens? No one looks at it this way because the victims are black.
the perps are black too thats why none of the Revs give a crap
I know the perps are black. That's why it's called black on black crime. I don't care what color the criminals are, I want them off of the streets. Black people do not care if the criminals are black - we just want them off of our streets. They are a small minority of the people living in the neighborhoods that they terrorize. If the victims were white, I think that this problem would have been cleaned up a long time ago. It's the same people committing these killings. I am sorry but little effort is put into ending this violence because the victims are black. The Revs that you are referring to are civil rights activists. These crimes have nothing to with civil rights so that's the reason they are not involved.
The death penalty should be brought back and used very frequently, especially for those serial killers, child molesters, and murderers who enjoy taking a person's life without cause or provocation. I want the electric chair back. Lethal Injection is too easy for most of them who made their victims suffer. I propose that we use the electric chair to fit the crime. You see, these crimes are not going to stop until these people know we are serious about their twisted behavior. With the Chair, you have the option of putting water on them in that little gadget they attach to the head I believe, but I recommend no water. Let them burn. For those of you who think that the death penalty doesn't deter crime, let me tell you why it doesn't. This Justice System of ours allows the "Real" criminals to sit on death row for about 15 years or more, especially the men. They probably would not have lived that long on the streets. The women, however, are executed sooner. Well, I am going to rest my case because I am starting to build up on this issue. More next time.
As has always been, 99% of the crime is committed by 1% of the society. Career Repeat Offenders are subsidized by the US legal system, that keeps them circulating among society (Catch and Release). To punish the 99% by ever more restrictive regulations (laws) has Never worked while maintaining Freedom.
"The Great Society, War on Poverty" allowed for endless free time, generation after generation (they breed young), no responsibilities, 'Feral Families' subsidized to perpetuate the Dependency Addiction. What does society expect from a culture of Perpetual Dependency? Waiting for the monthly EBT deposit, while hanging around the taxPayer subsidized 'section 8 housing', waiting for the next 'buyer' to stop by. World Class Drug Addiction, with all of it's deadly consequences, is now the USA's claim to fame, after the Social Security 'trust' was robbed to fund total perpetual dependency addiction.
'Feral' Families were a tiny percentage, 'Before' the Great Society subsidized the Dependency lifestyle. Now the USA has more subsidized babies born to 'Feral' Families, than babies born to Traditional Families. The Traditional Families are now under Political attack, and They are the ones Paying for the Subsidized lifestyle. To say it is not boiling to a final outcome, is hiding heads in Political smoke, while allowing the debt crisis to implode the USA. Many now desire just that. Communism historically settles the problem. 100,000,000 humans historically becoming 'fertilizer' under National Socialism, leaves fewer for Dependency. Maybe the 'Georgia Guidestones' are on track?
I cannot understand a President of the United States, being there in Chicago, golfing and having such a fun and relaxing time with HIS family and friends , while other families are being destroyed by this gang violence.
If you can spend years funding an operation to kill Bin Ladin, then can we not fund the means to send in forces to battle agains't gang violence in and on our own streets?
Oh, I forgot...it wouldn't make Obama shine like Bin Ladins death did! Silly me!
"...this time last year 17 people were murdered in a week. It's not something we want to declare victory about, but it's progress, you have to have that perspective and it's the reality."
I'm sure the dead folks appreciated Chicago's willingness to sacrifice them to keep an unarmed citizenry. Gun control does not work. All it does is disarm the law-abiding citizens leaving them at the mercy of the criminals...because criminals don't abide by laws. It's too bad that innocent citizens have to be sacrificed to assuage the politicians in their continued power grabs to control the people. Gun control is NOT about guns....it's about control.
I bet if white people were committing these crimes Jesse and AL would be heard!!
That reminds me...who was it that bought Obama's old Senate seat? Maybe he or she (or some combination) could help out.
Who is the MAYOR? Oh that's right Emmanuel....another Obama spin off..... Let me make it easy for you Mayor....FIRE the Chief of Police and get someone competent!
Community Organizer Obama...... Is this his legacy?