Christmas weekend shootings bring Chicago shooting victims to 4,300 this year

CHICAGO — Not even Christmas offered a reprieve to Chicago's merciless tide of gun violence, as almost 50 were shot over the weekend in incidents all over the city. According to the Chicago Tribune, at least 11 people were killed and 33 were wounded in shootings over the holiday weekend.

This year, long weekends have been deadly in Chicago: Memorial Day weekend saw at least 69 shot, Independence Day weekend saw at least 50 shot, and Labor Day weekend saw at least 65 shot. While the majority of cases resulted in injuries, each of the weekends saw multiple deaths.

The Chicago Tribune, which is tracking the city's shootings, reported that this weekend's violence pushed Chicago over 4,300 shot in 2016 alone. That figure counts people shot and killed as well as those shot and wounded.

And there's a good chance that those doing the shooting aren't getting caught. The Guardian reported that this year, the clearance rate for homicides dropped to just 21 percent. That means almost eight in 10 homicides go unsolved.

Chicago police claim to struggle with a number of internal and external factors, including declining officer morale, difficulty in making simple unwarranted stops, and a fear that bystanders who film their treatment of suspects will release a viral video, something they call the "Ferguson Effect." Earlier this year, police stops plummeted by over 90 percent, and gun seizures collapsed.

The paperwork required of officers by the American Civil Liberties Union and the City of Chicago has since been amended and streamlined.

Cox Media Group