CHICAGO (WLS) -- The city of Chicago continues to grapple with gun violence, which impacts hundreds of people every year. As of July 7, 2024, there have been almost 1,200 total reported shootings in the city, according to the Chicago Police Department.
"We cannot take our eyes off the ball," Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference following a violent July 4 holiday weekend. "We cannot stop thinking about the people who have been victimized by this crime."
While long holiday weekends often see a spike in gun violence, Chicago police and city officials are working to curb shootings and make the city safer.
These are the latest updates on gun violence in the city of Chicago in 2024.
A man was shot to death while in a house in Dearborn Homes on Thursday, according to Chicago police.
The shooting happened in the 2900-block of State St around 12:01 p.m.
The 41-year-old male victim was in the hallway of a house when someone started to shoot at him.
The victim was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
No one is in custody.
A man was fatally shot while driving, causing a crash on the city's South Side on Monday afternoon, Chicago police said.
Police said the shooting happened in the West Chatham neighborhood's 7900-block of South Lafayette Avenue at about 4:30 p.m.
A 30-year-old man was driving westbound on 79th Street when a sedan pulled up, and someone inside fired shots, police said.
Police said the victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body, causing his vehicle to crash into a pole near the intersection.
The victim was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
There is no one in custody, and Area Two detectives are investigating.
Police did not immediately provide further information.
A man was killed and a woman was critically wounded in a shooting on Chicago's South Side Monday morning, Chicago police said.
A 30-year-old man and 31-year-old woman were in a stationary vehicle in the 7400-block of South Kimbark Avenue in Grand Crossing just after 8:45 a.m., when a white sedan pulled up, police said.
Three suspects got out of the car, and began shooting in the victims' direction, according to CPD.
The man was shot and pronounced dead on the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office later identified him as Emil L. Riley Jr.
The woman was also shot, and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where she is in critical condition.
No one is in custody, and Area Detectives are investigating.
One mother says she has been a Concealed-Cary License holder for years, but never had to fire her gun until, she said, danger came through her daughter's bedroom window on Saturday night.
Even if their broken outside windscreen is fixed, the trauma for one family has already seeped inside of their South Shore apartment.
"That motherly instincts kick in, so as soon as something happens, it's like fight or flight," the mother said.
The mother, who asked ABC7 to conceal her and her family's identities, said it happened before 11 p.m.
That is when her 18-year-old daughter had just returned to her bedroom after bathing.
"So, I put the towel on, and I run out my room and I ran right there. I'm like, 'Yo, somebody's trying to come through my window.' So, my mom immediately acted on it," the daughter said.
"He was, like, hanging on her window. I just told him that, 'I have a gun. I'm going to shoot.' And he just didn't stop. I fired a warning shot. I didn't even know that he got hit," the mother said.
That is, until police arrived on East 69th near Oglesby, where they found the 36-year-old suspect shot in the leg. He was taken to the hospital in fair condition.
His life was spared but now, he is armed with what the family hopes is a hard-learned lesson.
"Next time you think about coming through somebody's window, you just remember how that bullet felt," the daughter said.
The mother also hopes to move soon especially since, she said, police confiscated her gun.
Charges are pending against the suspect on Sunday night.
