CHICAGO (AP) — Eight people were killed and 50 others were wounded in dozens of shootings in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend, according to police.
Between Friday night and Monday night, a total of 58 people were shot in 37 separate shootings in the nation’s third-largest city, according to preliminary information from police. Most involved one victim, but multiple people were injured in three of the shootings. Most victims were in good or fair condition, but several were listed in serious or critical condition. In a handful of cases, police said a person of interest was being questioned, but in most, no suspect was in custody.
Over Labor Day weekend last year, seven people were killed, six of them by gunfire, and more than 20 others were wounded in shootings over the holiday weekend, police said.
The number of shootings reflects a common occurrence in Chicago, particularly over long holiday weekends in summer, when some areas on the city's West and South sides, in particular, experience localized gun violence with higher crime rates. The city’s police department and other agencies frequently increase their own street presence ahead of these summer weekends, along with community groups that aim to decrease the risk of gun violence.
This weekend’s violence, though, has received higher national scrutiny amid President Donald Trump's administration’s threats to use federal agencies or possibly National Guard troops on Chicago’s streets.
Late Saturday, seven people were shot along South State Street, and police said the preliminary investigation indicated that a person in a passing vehicle opened fire into a crowd. The victims, two women and five men, were listed in good condition.
About two hours later, around 1 a.m. Sunday, four people were shot along West Haddon Avenue, a few miles away, and police said their preliminary investigation indicated that people in two passing vehicles opened fire on people standing outside. The victims, a man and three women, were all listed in good condition, police said.
Early Monday, officers responding to a report of a large disturbance heard gunshots a short distance away, then found five people shot on South Cottage Grove Avenue, about a mile from Saturday night’s shooting. A 17-year-old boy was listed in critical condition, police said. The other victims, all adults, were listed in good or fair condition. Four firearms were recovered from the shooting scene, and a person of interest was being questioned.
The Trump administration recently deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness, and previously sent troops to Los Angeles. On Saturday, Trump warned Illinois Gov. JB Pritzke r in a social media post that he must straighten out Chicago’s crime problems quickly “or we’re coming.”
The Trump administration is expected to expand immigration operations in Chicago. On Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed plans for a stepped-up presence of federal agents in the city.
The Republican president has criticized Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, both Democrats, and they have stressed that crime has fallen in Chicago, planning to sue if the plan moves forward.
On Saturday, Johnson announced on the social platform X that he signed an executive order directing all city departments “to protect Chicagoans and not collaborate with federal overreach,” saying they "can’t perfectly predict how an erratic and impulsive administration will act.”
Violent crime has dropped in recent years in Chicago, but it remains a persistent localized problem for the city with a population of 2.75 million. Some neighborhoods with the highest homicide rates have 68 times more homicides than those with the lowest rates, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
Last year, the city reported 573 homicides, the most of any U.S. city that year, according to the Rochester Institute of Technology.
So far this year, homicides and shootings are down when compared to the same period last year, according to police. There were 404 homicides from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1 last year, but 279 so far this year. There were 1,586 shootings from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1 in 2024, but 1,026 so far this year.
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