Chicago sees fewer shootings over July Fourth weekend compared to last year
CHICAGO (CBS) – First responders in Chicago juggled everything from severe weather, thousands of illegal fireworks calls, and at least 57 people shot over the long Fourth of July weekend.
As CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reported, the shootings total was an improvement from the violence the city saw last year, according to police.
The Chicago Police Department attributed that improvement to extensive planning, but also the severe weather that the city experienced over the weekend. So as that weather improved, the shootings surged.
While shootings were down year-over-year since last Fourth of July weekend, since midnight, the number of shootings in Chicago has accelerated.
CPD said 15 people were shot in the city since midnight. At last check, three of them died from their injuries. On Wednesday, nearly a dozen city departments gathered to discuss the different safety issues that came up this weekend.
Interim CPD Supt. Fred Waller acknowledged that the severe weather likely played a role in there being fewer shootings, but also gave credit to the extensive coordination surrounding the NASCAR race and other events.
"A lot of long-term planning went into NASCAR," Waller said. "Of course, we're always planning long-term for the Fourth of July. Of course, the weather being what it was, for NASCAR, I'm sure that kept some people off the street who normally would be on the street and we see what happened."
Waller spoke Wednesday about the decline in shootings over the long weekend, speaking alongside nearly a dozen city departments that gathered to discuss the different safety issues which came up the past few days.
Still, Waller said police need to do a better job of dispersing large gatherings.
So CBS 2 wanted to know if there was a connection between sunshine and shootings. A 2016 study of shootings in Chicago found an association. A 10-degree Celsius higher temperature was "significantly associated" with 34% more shootings on weekdays, and 42% more shootings on weekends or holidays.
Chicago Fire Department officials also said Wednesday they received at least 300 fire calls over a 24-hour period, and 14 of those were fire investigations, eight involving fireworks.
"Sadly, yes something as small as a firework, a bottle rocket, gets in the structure, getting in a garbage can absolutely ignite the surrounding combustibles," said Ryan Rivera, commanding fire marshal.
The Office of Emergency Management and Communications said it received over 2,000 calls for fireworks, which were very difficult to respond to, although no serious injures were reported.
"The ones we're seeing are illegal fireworks. Even sparklers are dangerous," said Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt.
Still, the calls were a drain on first responders' resources.
"We have to really do priorities because if you say fireworks as opposed to someone with a gun, a man with a gun, or somebody battering someone, those types of cases and those types of calls are going to take priority over the fireworks," Waller said.
A total of nine people were killed over the holiday weekend. Eight died in fatal shootings and one person died of blunt force trauma, according to CPD data.