Chicago shootings leave at least 38 injured, seven dead over weekend

Chicago’s Juneteenth weekend turned into another familiar burst of gunfire, with at least 38 people injured and seven killed since Friday evening as shootings spread across the city in more than two dozen incidents. The toll climbed through the holiday weekend, again showing how violence can concentrate into a short, devastating stretch even after years of official promises to push it down.

One of the worst episodes came Friday evening, when at least 12 people standing in a crowd were shot after an SUV pulled up and two people inside began firing. The victims included eight men and four women, ages 17 to 47, and they were taken to four hospitals as the city’s emergency system absorbed yet another mass-casualty scene.

The weekend’s death toll also cut through individual neighborhoods. In Austin, 18-year-old Aniyhas Jackson was fatally shot in a home on West Quincy Street, where police said a 17-year-old boy was arrested and a gun was recovered. In North Lawndale, at least three people were shot late Saturday night during a large gathering, and no arrest had been announced there as of the latest reports.

The violence landed during a holiday meant for reflection, not mourning. Mayor Brandon Johnson said in an X post that what should have been a night of celebration and community reflection “was shattered by horrific violence.” President Donald Trump used the shootings to renew his call for military intervention in Chicago, saying on Truth Social that he could make the city safe in one month. The office of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The weekend’s bloodshed came even as Chicago police data show only a slight uptick in shooting incidents compared with the first half of last year, with violent crime generally down over the past few years. That broader decline has not erased the city’s recurring summer spike, when shootings still cluster in predictable bursts and overwhelm neighborhoods, hospitals and public safety leaders alike.

Recent weekends have made that pattern hard to ignore. The prior weekend saw at least 20 people shot and seven killed, and other holiday weekends this year have also brought sharp increases. The repeated surges underscore the gap between citywide anti-violence strategies and the street-level reality in communities that keep absorbing the toll.