Popular teen who appeared in anti-violence video shot in Chicago
CHICAGO -- Easter brought no peace to Chicago.
Over the weekend, there were two murders, 28 people shot, including a brave boy who has tried to stop the violence.
Zarriel Trotter became an online sensation after an anti-violence video featuring him went viral.
"I don't want to live around my community where I got to keep on hearing and hearing people keep on getting shot. People keep on getting killed," he said.
But the bloodshed caught up with him Friday night.
The 13-year old was hit in the back by a stray bullet near his home. An unintended target of a street fight, he is now in critical condition.
"It's just tragic. Too much of this stuff is going on, you know," said his neighbor Steve Dunn. "We gotta pray for our young people."
Mayor Rahm Emanuel named a new interim police superintendent on Monday. Eddie Johnson is a 27-year veteran of the force and a Chicago native who is likely to get the permanent job.
"I would say to these young people out here shooting and killing: they are destroying our communities, they are destroying families and it has to stop," Johnson said.
But the question is how.
"The fight against gangs and gun violence is not for the police department alone. All of us have a role to play," Mayor Emanuel said.
Shootings in Chicago are up 98 percent over last year. Homicides are up 84 percent.
The mayor and others have noted a drop in aggressive law enforcement that followed the release of a video showing an officer shooting and killing 17-year old Laquan McDonald. The officer faces murder charges.
In addition, a Justice Department investigation of the police in Chicago, have left some cops demoralized and less decisive.
And the numbers seem to bear that out because police acknowledge that since January their stops for suspicious behavior have dropped to about 21,000 from 157,000 over the same period last year.