Re: The race for the bottom is back on!

Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Suck it, California.

After headlines and editorials that gun violence is down, fewer
shootings and fewer homicides, we've had a three day period of
incredible violence with five mass shootings.

Here's the latest; no one died yet.

7 wounded in Back of the Yards shooting
https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2025/07/05/7-wounded-in-back-of-the-yards-shooting

So really, it depends how you count the numbers. Despite a spate of mass
shootings with multiple murders and numerous attempted murders with
traumatic injuries, the headline is that this was the LEAST violent
Independence Day weekend in the last six years.

For the purpose of these statistics, police are counting 5 pm Thursday
7/3/2025 till 5 am Monday 7/7/2025.

In gun violence, there were merely 9 homicides and 40 attempted murders.

Last year was terrible but there was an extra day. More than 100 shot
including 19 who were killed. This included 24 shot during four mass
shootings, including 4 who were killed.

But the mass shootings I mentioned above aren't counted against holiday
weekend statistics due to arbitrary tallying. For instance, the mass
shooting outside the drill rapper's album release party in which 4 were
killed and 14 were injured occurred too early, so let's just ignore that
one. That incident made national news. Two mass shootings count but
the earlier ones do not.

The most depraved incident in recent days occurred Friday 7/4/2025
around 9 am. A woman locked her three children in her apartment in a
masonry building, took their phones so they couldn't call for help, then
stabbed them repeatedly. She then set multiple fires inside the
apartment. The damage wasn't severe but when the fire spread to the
wooden building next door, the roof caught fire and collapsed. The
youngest boy was stabbed 36 times and would die of his wounds. Two
adults next door and a police officer were injured and had to be treated
for smoke inhalation.

The mother told police that her children were possessed by the devil.
She's been charged with 14 felony counts including first-degree murder.