After Violent Fourth of July Weekend, Police Supt. McCarthy Says ‘We Will Not Relent'

At least eight people were killed and another 41 injured in shootings over the long holiday weekend

Nearing the end of a particularly violent Fourth of July weekend, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said his department "will not relent."

McCarthy called a press conference Sunday afternoon to address the weekend violence, in which eight people died and another 41 were injured in shootings since Thursday night.

Despite the high number of shootings, McCarthy applauded the officers for working 12-hour tours and the department for taking the "extraordinary step" of employing 30 percent more officers on the streets than usual. He also said that he himself was out patrolling the streets until the early hours of Sunday.

"We're doing everything we can to fight this," McCarthy said. "We need to repair a broken system."

McCarthy also addressed the shooting in which 7-year-old Amari Brown was killed while watching Fourth of July fireworks Saturday night in the Humboldt Park neighborhood with his father, who McCarthy said is a documented gang member who has been arrested 45 times.

The bullet that hit Amari was intended for his father, McCarthy said.

The police superintendent stressed that there is a problem in which some offenders are more afraid of gang repercussions than they are of police and the law.

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