Chicago Celebrates Its Least Violent 4th of July in Years: 55 Shot, 9 Killed

The 4th of July weekend in Chicago is historically a time for a lot of violence. This year is no different. At least 55 people were shot between early Friday morning and late Sunday night.

At least 55 people have been shot, eight fatally, in gun violence across the city over the Fourth of July weekend, Chicago police said.

ABC7 is tracking holiday weekend shootings from the morning of Thursday, July 3 at midnight to the evening of Sunday, July 6 at 11:59 p.m.

There were two different mass shootings that contributed to that total. The first one happened late Friday night.

About 11:10 p.m. Friday, two men walked up to a group of people standing outside in the 4800 block of South Justine Street and opened fire, wounding seven people — four women and three men, police said…

Less than three hours later, around 1:45 a.m. Saturday, four men were in a parked car near the intersection of California Avenue and 27th Street when a dark SUV drove past and a person began shooting at the car, police said.

Police were alerted after the four men checked themselves into Mt. Sinai, according to police. Three of the victims, ages 25, 26 and 32, were shot multiple times and were in critical condition, police said. The fourth, a 33-year-old man, was shot in the leg and listed in fair condition, police said.

The most remarkable thing about all of this is that this years numbers were actually an improvement over previous years. The Chicago Sun Times has a story up headlined “Chicago sees least violent Fourth of July in at least 6 years despite mass shootings.” This story says nine were killed but it used a slightly broader definition of the holiday weekend.

Nine people were killed and 40 others were injured in citywide violence over the holiday weekend, making it the least violent Fourth of July weekend in at least six years.

The weekend runs from 5 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Monday…

By the end of the weekend last year, 19 people had been killed and 86 others wounded. The 68 people injured and 12 killed over the first two days of the July 4th weekend in 2024 surpassed the numbers for the entire 2023 holiday weekend, which stretched over four days, when 11 people were killed and 62 wounded.

Violence peaked in 2021 when more than 100 people were shot and 19 were killed in shootings across the city through the mid-summer holiday weekend.

Technically, the numbers were slightly lower this year (55 shootings instead of 62 or 86) but that’s only because a drive-by shooting that happened late Wednesday night didn’t count toward the totals.

Four people were killed and 14 were wounded late Wednesday in a mass shooting outside a River North restaurant and lounge hosting a mixtape release party for rapper Mello Buckzz, police said.

At 11:02 p.m., a dark-colored car went past Artis Restaurant, 311 W. Chicago Ave., and a person in the car shot at a crowd of people standing outside, police said. The people in the car drove off.

The youngest victim this year was a 16-year-old girl named Meeyah Smith.

Meeyah Smith was part of a Chicago organization called “Englewood First Responders,” which works to diminish gun violence by performing acts of service for neighbors. She was killed just a few miles away from the community she worked to uplift.

Police said an armed offender walked up and shot Smith and a 35-year-old man. The man survived…

Her friends said Englewood First Responders’ work was embraced by Smith to stay out of trouble.

“When we first met, it was like she fit into this program,” Englewood First Responders CEO and founder Charles McKenzie said. “She was like, ‘I’m looking for something to keep me out the streets, from doing things that other young people do.’ And I’m like, ‘this the program for you.'”

McKenzie said he taught Smith how to mow the lawn. The non-profit also helps clean neighborhoods, spend time with seniors and embraces families experiencing hardship.

Here’s a local news report from before the weekend was over.