The surge in violence in 2020 has had an especially tragic impact: The number of shooting victims younger than 10 years old is three times what it was last year, according to Tribune data.
Twenty-four children, 10 years old and younger, have been shot in Chicago as of the end of July, according to a database of shooting victims kept by the Tribune. Five fatally. The 2019 total during the same time period was eight.
The number of shootings victims is up overall this year but not by the same proportion as the youngest victims of the city’s gun violence. As of July 31, the Tribune counted 2,268 shooting victims of all ages, an increase of 45% over the same time period in 2019. Of that, 222 victims were ages 17 or younger, an increase of 36% compared to 2019. Shooting victims age 10 and younger increased by 200%.
Thirty children under age 17 were killed in shootings so far this year, compared with 19 last year.
They were shot walking down the street, playing in front yards, sitting in car seats, on couches in their homes and in apartment hallways. They were shot Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They were shot before 9 a.m., noon, 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and after midnight. They were 179 boys and 42 girls.
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