Seven-Year-Old, Victim of Holiday Weekend Gun Violence

Deborah Bayliss | As of Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Seven-year old Amari Brown, who resided on the 500 block of North Drake, was among those who were shot and killed over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Brown reportedly was watching a fireworks display late Saturday night near his West

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Amari Brown, 7

Humboldt Park home when he was fatally shot in the chest. He was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

In anticipation of the spike in gun violence, over the Fourth, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel held a public safety meeting June 30, saying “The 4th of July weekend has been a challenge historically, and we are taking an all-hands-on-deck approach between city government and community leaders to ensure every resident in every community can celebrate in safety this weekend."

Anticipations of a bloody, Fourth of July weekend proved accurate. Crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for the Fourth of July weekend this year show from July 3 to July 6, there were 34 shooting incidents and 48 victims. The Chicago Tribune however, reports, 55 shooting incidents with 10 victims.

Shootings this past weekend were primarily on the South and West sides.

However, Englewood -- the area with more shootings than any other neighborhood in the city so far this year – reportedly did not have a single shooting over the holiday weekend.

In an effort to curtail violence, police worked 12-hour shifts during the holiday, but there’s no report showing that this is the reason for Englewood's peaceful weekend.

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said in a news report that the weekend outbreak in violence proves that the number of officers working the streets is not as critical in preventing shootings as having effective gun laws that put gun offenders behind bars for a long time.

"If you think that putting more cops on the street would make a difference, then take a look at the fact that we put a third more manpower on the street for this weekend," McCarthy was quoted saying. "What's the result? We're getting more guns. Well, that's great. It's not stopping the violence.”

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