August 2016, the most violent month in Chicago in nearly 20 years.

In the weeks since he was shot in the back, 10-year-old Tavon Tanner has undergone several operations to repair the damage from the bullet that tore through his small body and remains lodged between his shoulder and his chest.

The fifth-grader is still in the hospital and still in pain, according to his mother Mellanie Washington. He doesn't talk as much and cries more often. Sometimes he'll ask if police have arrested the person who shot him.

"I tell him they will soon," Washington said. "They will." No one was in custody as of Monday.

Tavon was among more than 400 people shot in Chicago this month. There have been at least 78 homicides, marking August as the most violent month in the city in almost 20 years, according to data provided by the Chicago Police Department. And there are two more days to go.

The city hasn't seen a deadlier month since October of 1997, when there were 79 homicides. For the whole year, the count was 761, according to department numbers.

Source.

Will Chicago break the 80 homicides barrier?

lol my job has a site there, it's in the bad part of town. They ask if I want to go and I'm like "nope"

I know I [likely] won't get shot, but I've seen people get shot in Oakland and that's enough "bad town" experience for me.

I feel bad for Chicago. From what I hear it is a beautiful city with a lot to offer. I am really curious why the gun crime is so high there. Or maybe it is just being overreported and it's not thathigh

ChicagLOL

@mrbojangles25: to put things in context for you, the crime and murder rates have been higher in the past and chicago is nowhere near the highs new York hit in the 80's. The shootings mostly only occur on the south side and the rest of the city is rather nice.

@mark1974:

Why do people in here hate our city?

@PSP107: it's part ignorance and what they see in the media and part republican partisan politics. Makes me sad too.

Awww we don't hate your city, it's just a poster child for the pro-gun lobby "Oh gun control doesn't work", etc...

It's probably like all big cities; you got your bad parts and 90% of the shit goes down there, the rest is just angry husbands and wives being dumb and shooting eachother. No real danger to regular folks.

Unless you're married. Then you might want to keep an eye out...she/he is gonna get ya!!!

*Sigh* Yeah there's nothing more depressing than driving and seeing someone gunned downed in the middle of the street. And twice this month I've seen just that while coming or going to work, couple guys laying face down in a pool of their own blood with what looks like bullet wounds to the head...

That is unbelievable. I don't know if I could deal with seeing that. And you talk about it as if it's the same as seeing dog poop in your yard on the walk up the driveway. You sound really desensitized to it.

Liveleak will do that to a man.

@sayyy-gaa:

You get used it.

@PSP107: WTH? I mean if that is a normal occurrence isn't it time to get the fu&k out of that neighborhood if possible? If you get used to it, than what about your progeny[if old enough] or younger siblings? You wouldn't want them around that stuff if you can help it right?

I guess I'm saying what makes you stay in a neighborhood or area where you are used to seeing dead bodies?

I've seen enough gruesome shit on the internet where it doesn't freak me out but it still doesn't compare to actually seeing someones final moments in person or seeing their blood spill out all over the side walk or street. I might be desensitized to it, but having those images in my mind is still enough to ruin my day or haunt my mind for the rest of the week...

I know, right? It's the south side that has the most gun crime rate. We have been a pro liberal city since the first Daley was mayor, and it seems nothing has changed to coup with the gun violence. Although, Hyde Park is also a very nice place to live since it's where the University of Chicago is located at. The North side was shit until hipsters moved in and there is less crime there

NYC was a warzone in the 80's. I cant see how people could compare Chicago today. Yes, the situation is deplorable, but cops were not getting gunned down left and right this year in Chicago. Cops who worked in districts like the 7-5 in Brooklyn describe it along the lines of Beirut or Vietnam. The 7-5 had the most murders of any precinct in America. You had around 2000 murders a year in NYC in the 80's during the crack and cocaine boom. Compare that to Chicago. In 2015, Chicago had just over 500 homicides. Chicago does not come close to NYC or Miami in the 80's, or even Chicago from the Capone days. Yes, parts of Chicago, like large parts of many urban areas in major cities is deplorable, but it is indeed blown out of proportion.

Obama must be so proud of his city. Look at all the change he's brought in the last 8 years.

That's a shame.

lol this what happens when you have Dems control a city for to long.

In England, France and Germany, for hundreds of years, the more castles a country had, the less crime they had. Weird.

The strict gun laws in Chicago is often talked about by the right but they fail to mention that the south side of Chicago borders Indiana which is where all the guns are coming from and has some of the most lax gun laws. People buy up guns at Indiana gun shows and sell them on the streets in Chicago. Indiana is literally one step away from Chicago.

This was the partisan rightwing angle I was talking about. You can score political points by exaggerating and demonizing violence in Chicago. Chicago has some tragic problems that must be addressed but it is the same everywhere and Chicago is not currently breaking any records for murder. These comments are too transparent and it looses credibility to the right for anyone who knows better.

Well, why not? The media rewards it by droning on endlessly about how it's whitie's fault every time a black person shoots a black person. So hey, make as much noise as ya can.

I had a family member gunned downed in Chicago so i know and how long was that Dems were in power in Chicago? oh yeah 20 years.

@CommandoAgent: the gang bangers aren't shooting at each other because there is democrats in office. The politicians running the city have little to do with gang violence. The right is always telling us that the politicians can't save you and we must all be responsible for ourselves but somehow democrats are responsible for all the ills of the nation. Illinois has not benefited from having one of the most far right governors in the country has it? Democrats will always be in power in large cities because they are multicultural and only angry white men vote republican.

The Republicans are not shooting anyone in Chicago. So much for liberal gun control; laws.

Will you be able to document that claim with proof because I'd be interested in seeing the numbers.

Well this proves that republicans are right about Chicago and Gun Laws. Even with tougher Gun Laws that wont help cut down the crime. Trump has a point about the violence in the country. Dispute the news media who are strongly supporting the multicultural agenda crime will rise.

@Solaryellow: its was wrong to say all. But more than half are from out of state. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/29/us/where-50000-guns-in-chicago-came-from.html?_r=0

@CommandoAgent: I don't think gun laws are the answer. Maybe part of the answer. I don't know. What do you mean by "multicultural agenda"?

Actually, I forgot to underline the entirety of what needed clarification as the gun show claim also caught my interest. Above someone (might have been you) said the Republicans sensationalize the firearm murders in Chicago and maybe that is or is not true but you also did what the Democrats like to do and that is using sensationalism when mentioning firearms purchased at gun shows used in crime. Again, I don't know the truth to such a claim because we never see numbers. Firearms coming from out of state? That's agreeable. Saying they come from gun shows? We need numbers. Lets be blunt for a moment. How many people at a gun show are going to sell a firearm to a guy straight out of the Bad Bad Leroy Brown song?

@Solaryellow: I live in Chicago and listen to the local news all the time. There have been many stories in the media about the Indiana gun show problem and the people who have been caught buying them up and selling them in chicago. They aren't normal people who go to gun shows, they are criminals. You could do a search and probably find it. I'm not really a gun control advocate but I think that point is glossed over when people talk about chicago's gun laws.

Yet you come to the conclusion that Republicans are selling guns in Chicago without any proof. Where in Chicago do you live? In the North side full of hipster liberals that think they know everything and never been to the south side? It's a warzone down there! The only safe place is Hyde Park, while there is a lot of shootings in Inglewood and infestation of gang violence in Pulaski as they took control of the Ford City Mall.

Could I do a google search? Sure. Will I? No. You made the claim that people are buying firearms at Indiana gun shows and then selling them in Chicago. Democrats are well known for using the gun show nonsense yet they never seem to give concrete stats. Not saying you are correct nor wrong, I just ask for a solid foundation. If it is as much of a problem as the Democrats suggest, wouldn't verifiable facts be given?

@Solaryellow: I'm not really worried about convincing you of anything. Go ahead and believe whatever you want.

@FireEmblem_Man: I never said "republicans are selling guns in Chicago". That's hilarious! I have no idea who these criminals vote for and I doubt they are political either way. Lol. I'm talking to you now from the south side. It's were I grew up and spent my first 21 years of life and it's were I spend most of my time working.

@Solaryellow: I changed my mind, here you go:

http://wgntv.com/2014/09/03/indiana-guns-favorite-of-chicago-gangbangers/

Asking for proof must be too much to ask, huh? You've done the same thing you criticized Republicans for doing with the only difference being which side of the fence you reside upon.

@Solaryellow: see the post right above you.

According to the example in your article, the guy wasn't merely buying and then reselling them (straw) in any legal fashion. He was also using a false identification which, BTW, is illegal. Any wonder why he did such a thing?

Even using your numbers (which I am sure more exist), 43 firearms were sold by the individual. Are there any stats out there to prove how many firearms were bought legally at Indiana gun shows that were then illegally sold to those committing crime? I ask because we always hear of this gun show loophole. The police chief says 3k firearms come from Indiana yet zero mention of how many came from gun shows, how many were obtained illegally, etc.., There has to be some way of knowing what percentage were purchased through the "loophole" and then used in Chicago or crime in general., yes?

Read some of the comments in that link.

What the **** is going on up there? I feel sorry for all those who've lost family and innocent people.

It's a shame that people try to make a political issue out of this. I'd rather have both sides just swallow their egos and work on a solution. Why is the violence peaking in that city? Is it because of economic reasons, social problems, lack of policing, etc. Losing too many young people to senseless and preventable violence.

@sonicare: it's what it always is. No good jobs. Despair everywhere. No path to wealth other than drug dealing and gangbanging. Negativity as far as the eye can see. No way out of the ghetto. Stuck in misery. Roaches, lack of good food, ignorance, oppression. The short end of the stick. People in these neighborhoods have never traveled more than a ten mile radius from where they live. Their schools are terrible. Jobs that pay more than minimum wage don't exist. How did this happen? Why do these people live in a neighborhood that seems to be created just for them and lack all the amenities the rest of us take for granted? In the seventies they created projects. A place to house these people crammed together so they wouldn't interfere with life in white neighborhoods. It's the exact opposite thing they should have done. Integration has been the only thing proven to help these unfortunate people. Segregation and the lack of attention and funds that every other community gets to the segregated communities has created this monster. It's a legacy from the very racist days of our past.

Where do you live in the South Side? So I can go over there and slap the Rahm Emmanuel Support out of you!

I live in Michigan and I think during the 50's, 60's and 70's, a lot of african-americans moved up from the south. There were industrial jobs in Michigan and GM/Chrysler/Ford would hire black workers when many other companies at the time wouldn't. But as industrial jobs started to dry up or be moved overseas, those jobs disappeared and unemployment hit communities hard. I think that's the source of a lot of the economic unrest in Michigan. Is that similar to what's happening in Chicago?

@FireEmblem_Man: I did not vote for Rahm Emanuel! You should be able to tell. He is much more republican than I would like. He loves gentrification. He refuses to use funds on the south side. He is an asshole,

@sonicare: somewhat the same thing. US steel closed on the south side and took with it a lot of jobs. But those projects they built , Cabrini green, the Robert Taylor homes etc. were made as just a place to put poor black people who they didn't want to deal with.

He's far from a republican, he's a left that served under the Obama Administration before Daley stepped down. Face it, the Democratic policies in Chicago has failed!