The long Memorial Day weekend in Chicago was a bloody one, with a total of 69 people shot between Friday afternoon and early Tuesday morning, the Chicago Tribune reports.
According to the report, of the 69 people, 27 were shot in or near the Harrison District, one of the city's most violent and heavily patrolled areas. Although 13 more people were shot over the weekend this year than last year, when the tally was 56, the number of people killed dropped from 12 to six, the Tribune notes. There was a 48-hour period, between late Saturday afternoon and late Monday, where there were no deaths at all.
The Tribune reports that three people were killed and 12 wounded Friday afternoon through Saturday; one person was killed and 24 injured from Saturday evening through early Sunday; 13 people were injured from Sunday afternoon through early Monday; and 14 people were injured, and two killed, from Monday afternoon into early Tuesday morning.
Among those killed was 15-year-old Veronica Lopez, the youngest of this weekend's victims. Veronica was killed as she rode with two men whom police identified as gang members around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Her mother, Diana Mercado, told the Tribune that she had been planning to move to Florida with her daughter in a year because of the very violence that took her daughter from her. Other victims include 25-year-old Mark Lindsey, 25-year-old Damien Cionzynski, 27-year-old Garvin Whitmore, 39-year-old Johan Jean and 44-year-old James Taylor.
According to the Tribune, as of Tuesday morning, the total number of people shot in Chicago this year so far comes to about 1,500, with at least 250 killed—a drastic increase from the 957 shot and 164 killed at the same point last year.
Read more at the Chicago Tribune.