12 killed, 62 hurt in multiple Chicago shootings over the weekend

At least 74 people were shot in what is being termed as one of the most violent weekends in Chicago, US. Between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, 12 people were killed and 62 others were injured in a number of shootings across the city. The shootings were not related to one another.

According to the police, the ages of those killed or injured ranged from 11 years to 63 years. Shooters targeted large groups at a block party, funeral and other public gatherings.

Two 17-year-olds, one girl and one boy, were the youngest to die in the shootings.

The staggering number of victims became a topic of national concern in the United States.



The police on Monday attributed the shootings to gangs, the illegal flow of guns and sweltering August heat that drew more people outside.

Most of the shootings happened in poor neighborhoods on the West and South Sides where gangs are entrenched, police said. Chicago's Police Superintendent noted that homicides in the city went down by around 20 per cent from last year, but the gang members and others arrested on gun charges aren't dealt with harshly enough.

Starting a political slugfest over mass shootings in the US, Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Guilani, blamed the carnage on the Democratic rule in Chicago. Chicago's mayor made no comment on Guilani's statement.