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Weekend Crime Numbers 'Progress' -- Not Victory, Top Cop Says

By  Ted Cox and Josh McGhee | August 26, 2013 11:26am 

 Police Supt. Garry McCarthy admits to being "frustrated" over failure to recognize progress on the city's gun violence.
Police Supt. Garry McCarthy admits to being "frustrated" over failure to recognize progress on the city's gun violence.
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

WEST ENGLEWOOD — Facing questions about the murder of a 14-year-old boy and another man over the weekend, Chicago's top cop said he was "frustrated" Monday over the failure to recognize progress.

"Forgive me for being frustrated, but I'm a little frustrated," said Police Supt. Garry McCarthy outside Earle Elementary School, 2040 W. 62nd St., after students arrived for class Monday morning. McCarthy was on hand to discuss newly established Safe Passage routes between closed schools and so-called welcoming schools that took in the displaced students.

This weekend, there were 15 shootings and two murders. Lavander Hearne, 14, and Telkia Burns, 33, were killed Sunday. Despite the violence, police said citywide shootings are down 22 percent and murders are down 26 percent year to date from last year.

McCarthy said city murder figures were the lowest since 1965, with 400 fewer shootings this year than last.

"Progress, not success. This is movement in the right direction," McCarthy said. "That doesn't mean that we've won, but that's progress."

Among the shootings late Sunday:

• In North Lawndale, a 28-year-old man was grazed by a bullet in his neck while walking in the 1400 block of South Tripp Avenue, said Officer Veejay Zala, a police spokesman. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in "stable" condition. The shooting occurred about 11:37 p.m. Sunday.

• In Woodlawn at 8:52 p.m., a 14-year-old boy was riding his bike with friends when they were approached by two others on bikes. There was an argument before someone pulled out a gun and shot the boy in his left calf. The boy was sent to Comer Children's Hospital and was in "stable" condition Monday evening, Zala said.

• In Humboldt Park at 8 p.m., a 31-year-old man was shot in his thigh in the 900 block of North Central Park Avenue, Zala said. He took himself to Norweigan-American Hospital where his condition stabilized.

Those shootings follow shootings Sunday and overnight Saturday, including an incident in which an 11-year-old girl was wounded in Hermosa.

Saturday afternoon, three people were shot about a minute apart.

Overnight Friday into Saturday, two others were wounded in shootings on the South Side.