Homicides are now outpacing last year in Chicago after the city experienced its deadliest day so far this year, according to data kept by the Tribune.
Seven people were shot to death on Wednesday, five of them killed over two hours, including a pregnant woman in Chatham on the South Side. That’s the most homicides since Christmas Day last year, when eight people were killed in the city.
Homicides had been lagging behind last year, which had been the deadliest in two decades. But by Wednesday evening, the city had recorded its 99th homicide two days earlier than it did last year, according to Tribune data.
Like last year, the Harrison police district on the West Side has seen the most homicides: 16 this year compared to 12 this time last year, according to Tribune data.
The Austin district, also on the West Side, is close behind with 11 homicides. Last year, it wasn’t even among the top five at this time, Tribune data shows.
The next three districts are Ogden on the Near West Side, 10, Englewood on the South Side, 9, and Calumet on the South Side, 6. The Near North district had no homicides this time last year but has recorded two this year, according to Tribune data.
While homicides had been down most of this year, the number of people shot has been higher almost from the beginning. As of Wednesday evening, at least 495 people had been shot in Chicago, nearly 60 more than this time last year, according to Tribune data.
Statistics from the Chicago Police Department are lower because it does not include shootings on city expressways, police-involved shootings and incidents police consider non-criminal, like justified shootings.
Source: Chicago Tribune |Â Deanese Williams-Harris, Megan Crepeau and Elvia Malagon