Twenty-seven people have been shot in Chicago over the Christmas weekend, seven of whom have succumbed to their wounds.
The figure was recorded in a 48-hour period by the Chicago Police Department, according to a New York Times report on Sunday.
It marks a sharp rise in homicides and shootings since last year in one of the largest American cities, located in the state of Illinois.
Various conflicts among gangs over different subjects usually escalate to gunfire in Chicago.
Among this weekend’s victims was a Hispanic 18-year-old, who died due to multiple shots in his neck and back, while driving in the southwestern neighborhood of Gage Park on Christmas Day.
In 2016, Chicago saw 745 cases of homicide, which shows a 56 percent increase, compared to the previous year’s figure, 476, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a spokesman with the Chicago Police Department.
The year 2016 was the first year in nearly two decades that more than 700 homicides were…