Chicago Has Its Deadliest Day In 60 Years With 18 Killings In 24 Hours

The city of Chicago has had its deadliest day in 60 years, with 18 people killed within 24 hours on May 31.

Over the last weekend of May, 85 people were shot and 24 killed, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab, and most of those victims were black.

The data, published by the Chicago Sun-Times, showed that students, parents, and middle-aged workers made up the injured.

“We’ve never seen anything like it, at all,” senior research director Max Kapustin told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I don’t even know how to put it into context. It’s beyond anything that we’ve ever seen before.”

Before May 31, 2020, the deadliest day in Chicago’s history was August 4, 1991, when 13 people were killed. Kapustin said the Crime Lab’s data goes back as far as 1961.

Among those killed was Angelo Bronson, a 36-year-old father of two, and John Tiggs, a 32-year-old father of three, who was on his way to a cell phone store when he was killed. Students Lazarra Daniels and Keishanay Bolden – both 18 – were also among Sunday’s victims.

The deadliest day came as protests around the country, and Chicago, took place. In some cases, looting and fires were started.

Reverend Michael Pfleger told the Chicago Sun-Times that it was “open season” last weekend.

“On Saturday and particularly Sunday, I heard people saying all over, ‘Hey, there’s no police anywhere, police ain’t doing nothing,'” Pfleger said. “I sat and watched a store looted for over an hour. No police came. I got in my car and drove around to some other places, getting looted [and] didn’t see police anywhere.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Kapustin said, “When CPD [Chicago Police Department] has to turn its attention elsewhere, and there’s suddenly this vacuum that opens up, you also, unfortunately, see a picture like you saw with [last] weekend where you see an absurd amount of carnage, people getting injured and killed.”

Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the 911 emergency call center received 65,000 calls – 50,000 more than on an average day – on May 31.

Police told the Chicago Sun-Times: “The level of activity experienced over the last week has been unprecedented, and the Department is actively investigating multiple incidents across the city and working to determine the motives in these cases.”