The warmest weekend of the year turned out to be one of the bloodiest, and Chicago Police say they intend to do something about it.
At least 36 people were shot, four of them killed and one person was stabbed between Friday and Sunday, officials said.
"We have identified a number of gang factions that are in conflict with each other that sparked up with this violence. We are taking steps to intervene," Chicago Police superintendent Garry McCarthy said.
McCarthy renewed his call for mandatory minimum sentences for people who use illegal guns, along with guarantees the criminals will actually serve the sentences.
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The Rev. Andre Smith works with families affected by gun violence. He says the community needs to provide more jobs for teens with nothing to do.
"Our city is an outrage. They say crime is going down, and it's the summertime, and crime is going up," Smith said.
Residents in high-crime areas are fed up.
"We can't sit on our porches, we can't have barbecues, we have a big old park over here we can't sit in. People are scared to come out their houses," said Stephanie Hunley of Parkway Gardens.
Shontell Brown spent Monday morning planning her daughter's funeral. Gakirah Barnes was on her way to a barbeque on the 6400 block of South Eberhard when shots rang out around 3:30 p.m. Friday. She and two of her friends were hit.
"My daughter has a stack of obituaries of friends, family members, close people, and what's ironic is that I have to put my daughter's obituary at the top of that stack," Brown said.
McCarthy says police have taken 15,000 illegal guns off the streets this year.
