Chicago Violence Shows No Sign Of Slowing Down In July: More Than 220 Murders Since January
On Wednesday, Chicago police officer Thor Soderberg was killed with his own weapon on the South Side.
Soderberg, 43, was a police academy instructor who volunteered his time by serving as a guide to a blind triathlete, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. A convicted felon who is reportedly mentally ill attacked and disarmed Soderberg as he was standing near his car.
As the gunman ran from the scene, he exchanged gunfire with other officers. He was shot in the abdomen and under guard at an Oak Lawn hospital, the Sun-Times reports.
"I'm still shaking, shaking," DePaul University Professor Mazen Istanbouli told the Sun-Times. Istanbouli is a blind triathlete whom Soderberg guided as they ran, biked and swam as a team. "It's disturbing news. He was a great man. He exemplified the best police officer I have ever seen."
Soderberg is the second Chicago police officer to be killed in the last few months. In May, Officer Thomas Wortham was shot and killed outside of his home.
Before the Wednesday shooting, the Chicago Tribune's Red Eye released a "Chicago Homicide Report." The series tracked murders in the city, and reported 217 deaths between January 2010 and the end of June. Hundreds more were wounded.
The West Side's Humboldt Park neighborhood saw the biggest spike in shootings. The Red Eye reports:
From January through June, the Humboldt Park community area saw 17 homicides, all gunshot deaths, the most of any of Chicago's 77 community areas, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found.
Community outreach worker Derrick House told the Red Eye that a gang feud was likely to blame.
"It can get worse," House said. "But it can change."
While the Red Eye's shooting report ended in June, early July has been filled with violence. On Independence Day alone, four people were killed and at least 12 others wounded by gunfire.
Following the afternoon slaying of Soderberg on Wednesday, the violence continued.
The Chicago Tribune reports that two people were killed and 12 others wounded Wednesday night into early Thursday morning throughout the city. All were shot.
The violence has led many to question the effectiveness of the city's long held handgun ban--including the Supreme Court. In their ruling in late June, SCOTUS mentioned the increase in homicides since the ban began:
Chicago Police Department statistics, we are told, reveal that the City's handgun murder rate has actually increased since the ban was enacted and that Chicago residents now face one of the highest murder rates in the country and rates of other violent crimes that exceed the average in comparable cities.
The gun ban was deemed unconstitutional, and Mayor Daley quickly got the City Council to pass a strict handgun ordinance. But will the ordinance really make a difference?
In a Thursday Chicago Reader article, reporter Mick Dumke--who has questioned the mayor about the effectiveness of the city's gun laws--wrote that the main person benefiting from the gun ordinance seems to be the mayor himself.
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, called the mayor's gun battle "smoke" that allows him to avoid dealing with the real causes of Chicago crime.
"They don't want to address the problem of a 49 percent dropout rate or of deteriorating families and neighborhoods," Pearson told Dumke. "They just want to blame somebody else."
Democratic Congressman John Fritchey, who has previously suggested that the National Guard come in to deal with Chicago violence, agreed.
"At some point there is going to have to be some recognition that what we've been doing isn't working," Fritchey said.
Loading comments… 
First Posted: 07/08/10 02:34 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 06:00 PM ET