CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago began the unofficial start of summer over Memorial Day weekend with dozens of shootings that killed six people and wounded 56 others, contributing to a spike in violent crime in the city this year.
The police were bracing for the holiday weekend, with Superintendent Eddie Johnson, in his first major test since being sworn in last month to head the beleaguered department, putting more officers on the street in the hopes of stemming some of the violence.
The state police, too, were out in force, deploying more troopers to area expressways due to a spike in fatal shootings on such thoroughfares this year.
