Top cop calls Chicago’s most violent weekend so far this year ‘despicable’
By: Jeremy Gorner & Gregory Pratt, Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Calling Chicago’s most violent weekend so far this year “despicable,” police Superintendent Eddie Johnson stuck to the department’s usual explanation for what went wrong, blaming the flow of illegal guns and a too-lenient criminal justice system.
“Unfortunately, over the past 72 hours in Chicago, we saw a despicable level of violence,” Johnson said at a news conference Monday at police headquarters. “Weekends like this remind us all of the challenges that we face and that they are complex and profound.”
According to the department, at least 52 people were shot, eight fatally, from 6 p.m. Friday until midnight Monday. At least one other person was fatally stabbed, bringing the homicide toll to nine.
