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As cold weather breaks, Chicago violence returns: 24 shot in 30 hours over warmest weekend this year

Chicago police work the scene of a shooting in the 6300 block of South Seeley Avenue on Saturday, April 6, 2019. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

In a period of a little over 24 hours this weekend, 24 people were shot in Chicago, including three children under 13 — and three of the adults shot died from their injuries, according to police.

Beginning at 4 a.m. Saturday through about 10 a.m. Sunday, Chicago police were investigating shooting cases that included the homicides and a mass shooting of six people outside an afternoon baby shower in West Englewood in which an 8-year-old boy was shot in the chest and back and a 10-year-old girl was struck in the shin.

Three people also were shot in East Garfield Park about 3:30 a.m. Sunday as they stood outside in the 3900 block of West Wilcox Street. A 34-year-old was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the right leg; a 26-year-old was taken to Norwegian American Hospital with a gunshot wound to his right foot; and a 33-year-old was taken to Rush University Medical Center for a gunshot wound to his left arm.

Two of the three homicide investigations were launched Sunday morning, according to police. About 8:30 a.m. officers were called to the 6700 block of South Normal Boulevard in Englewood and found a man, 52, with a gunshot wound to his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Officer Michael Carroll said that shooting may have been the result of a domestic dispute; a person of interest was in police custody, he said.

About 6:10 a.m., officers in Woodlawn were called to a shooting in the 6600 block of South Maryland Avenue. A 32-year-old man had been shot multiple times in the back, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he later was pronounced dead. No arrests had been made in that case.

A teenager also was shot to death Saturday afternoon, about 4 p.m., in the 1700 block of West Steuben Street in Morgan Park, in an incident that also wounded a 22-year-old man. The medical examiner’s office later identified the slain man as Demonte Davis, 19.

Todd Kluber, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Sunday’s high temperature was expected to hit 66 degrees, the same high temperature recorded Saturday — which made it the warmest day of 2019.

“It’s safe to say this has been the warmest weekend so far this year,” Kluber said.

Chicago police typically see an increase in violence during summer months, in part because cold winter weather keeps more people indoors. There also tend to be more social gatherings in the summer, which in turn means people have increased occasion to drink alcohol, which can lead to additional arguments.

Police were reviewing statistics to determine whether the number of shootings between Saturday and Sunday morning represented a considerable increase in violence over previous weekends. Those numbers typically are compiled on Mondays.

Those injured in other shootings:

A 13-year-old boy wounded in the 1200 of West 73rd Street in Englewood, a 45-year-old man wounded in the 2000 block of West 68th Place, a 28-year-old man was wounded in the 5100 block of West Madison Street in South Austin, a 28-year-old man wounded in the 4900 block of West Hubbard Street in South Austin, a 29-year-old man wounded in the 4100 of West Belmont Avenue in Kilbourn Park, a 30-year-old man wounded in the 400 block of East 103rd Street in Roosemoor, a 29-year-old man wounded in the 7900 block of South Halsted Street in Gresham, a 27-year-old man wounded in the first block of East 102nd Street in Roosemoor, a 20-year-old man and a 43-year-old man wounded in the 10300 of South Corliss Avenue in Roseland, a 39-year-old man wounded in the 200 block of North Long Avenue in South Austin.

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© 2019 Chicago Tribune

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.