A Weekend of Gun Violence Has Left Four Dead and Dozens Injured in Chicago

A series of shootings took place in Chicago this weekend, leaving four people dead and at least 40 injured in a burst of gun violence over a seven-hour period from around midnight Saturday to early Sunday morning, according to city police officials.

The shootings were “both random and targeted,” Chicago Police Department patrol division chief Fred Waller told reporters, Reuters reports. Waller added that most of the shootings were related to gang activity.

According to police, gunmen attacked multiple gatherings late Saturday night, including a block party and a reception following a funeral. Many of the incidents occurred on Chicago’s West Side, where 25 people were injured by gunfire. The youngest was an 11-year-old boy, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Though plagued by gun violence, the number of shootings in Chicago has decreased this year, according to the Tribune, which records incidents of gun violence in the city. Through Aug. 1, 1,691 people have been shot in the city, a decrease of 532 since Aug. 1, 2017, and a drop of 746 since the same point in 2016. Last month, thousands of protestors blocked an interstate highway calling for an end to gun violence in the city.

“By no means do these statistics show that we have a victory,” Waller said, according to Reuters, while vowing that law enforcement would continue to combat gang activity in Chicago. “I promise we will not be defeated,” he said.