CHICAGO — Despite a mass shooting in Back of the Yards that left 13 people injured, police said shootings in September were down compared to the same month the year before.
In September 2013, the Chicago Police Department counted 163 shootings, down from 210 shootings in September 2012, police said.
Worth noting is that the police department counts the number of shooting incidents, not the number of people shot. When 13 people, including a 3-year-old boy, were wounded in a Cornell Square Park shooting in Back of the Yards on Sept. 19, that counted as one shooting incident.
Cops counted 40 murders last month, one fewer murder than in September 2012, according to police.
For the first nine months of 2013, shootings were down 22 percent in shootings, murders were down 21 percent and overall crime was down 15 percent compared to the same period in 2012, according to police.
The September numbers were also down from August, when police counted 50 murders and 235 shootings, the department said.
“Chicago Police continue to implement a comprehensive strategy, saturating high-crime areas with additional officers, using intelligence to prevent retaliatory gang shootings, moving officers from administrative positions back to the streets, and partnering with the community," Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said in a statement.
"While there has been less crime, fewer shootings and fewer murders in Chicago this year, there's certainly more work to be done and no one will rest until we reach the ultimate goal of zero crime. To reduce violence for the long-term our state and our country need better laws to keep illegal guns out of our communities and punish the criminals who carry them."
