In the same week the city topped a FBI list for most murders in 2012, Chicago made the news on Thursday night after a gunman opened fire on a group of people at a basketball court in a park, according to authorities.
The incident took place at Cornell Square Park on the city’s southwest side at after 10pm. That’s when authorities say gunfire erupted, leaving a reported 13 people wounded, a number that includes a three-year-old boy. “At this time, we believe the motive for the shooting to be gang-related,” Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Amina Greer said on Friday.
Gun violence has overtaken the city in recent years, with the FBI reporting over 500 incidents in 2012 alone. The figure is staggering when it’s taken into consideration that the second-rated city, New York, had 419 murders but triple the population size of its Midwest counterpart.
As bad as the figures seem, there are other areas facing even worse statistics.
“But as the Washington Post noted, residents of Chicago and New York were much less likely to be victims of a homicide than some Michigan residents. In Flint, for example, there were 63 killings — a staggering number when you consider Flint’s population is 101,632 — “meaning 1 in every 1,613 city residents were homicide victims.” In Detroit, where 386 killings occurred in 2012, 1 in 1,832 were homicide victims.”
The numbers also seem lower in comparison to the city’s numbers in the 1990s – 943 in 1992 and 931 in 1994 – and the 971, the reported number of homicides in 1974.
Cities with the most homicides in 2012
1. Chicago | 500
2. New York | 419
3. Detroit | 386
4. Philadelphia | 331
5. Los Angeles | 299
6. Baltimore | 219
7. Houston | 217
8. New Orleans | 193
9. Dallas | 154
10. Memphis | 133
11. Oakland | 126
12. Phoenix | 124
13. St. Louis | 113
14. Kansas City | 105
15. Indianapolis | 101