 Nine people were killed and at least 12 others wounded in shootings across Chicago Wednesday, including an 11-year-old boy slain by accidental gunfire. That marked the most homicides in a single day in Chicago in more than a decade, according to a Tribune analysis of department data. It approaches the peak of 10 that occurred on July 5, 2003, according to the Chicago Tribune. (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune) Police investigate and relatives gather outside an apartment building on the 6800 block of South Merrill Avenue, where a man was found fatally shot in a hallway area Sept. 2, 2015, in Chicago. The burst of violence began Tuesday afternoon when a teen was killed in Riis Park in the Belmont Central neighborhood and continued until early Thursday with the fatal shooting of a 39-year-old man in Bronzeville. By early Thursday, the toll had risen to 12 killed in homicides over the previous 36-hour span. • In the early morning hours, two men were slain in an Uptown neighborhood shooting on the North Side. • Wednesday’s first homicide happened about 12:20 a.m. in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side. Not included in Wednesday's homicide tally in Chicago was Antwone Price, the 11-year-old who died after he was accidentally shot by a relative who was playing with a gun inside their home in the Park Manor neighborhood. The Police Department, which doesn't classify accidental shootings as homicides, said no charges had been filed against the relative as of Thursday afternoon. "He was just a good kid," said Michele Watson, Antwone's grandmother, outside Comer Children's Hospital, where the boy was rushed.
– Wednesday marked the deadliest day for Chicago in more than a decade with nine people killed by gunshots in eight different districts across the city. Such gun violence hasn't been seen in Chicago since July 5, 2003, when 10 homicides occurred, reports the Chicago Tribune. Police say the various shootings were unconnected (though two 30-something men did die in one shooting). Among the dead are two 19-year-olds; a woman in her 20s; a 25-year-old man shot in the head, chest, and groin; and a 60-year-old man, NBC Chicago reports. "It's unfortunate to have this many murders in one day," says an officer. "Is this the worst it has been? No. We've got to put it into perspective." Police say one of the nine gunshot deaths wasn't a homicide but was accidental: 11-year-old Antwone J. Price was shot by a family member who was fooling around with a gun. His father and grandfather previously died in shootings, his family says. Over 36 hours from Tuesday afternoon to early Thursday, the death toll reached 12. Homicides have now spiked 20% in Chicago over last year, with 294 as of Aug. 23, compared to 244 by that date in 2014.