Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says the city has logged its 500th murder of the year.
Supt McCarthy issued a statement calling the milestone a "tragic number that is reflective of the gang violence and proliferation of illegal guns that have plagued some of our neighbourhoods".
By late today, police confirmed 40-year-old Nathaniel Jackson had become the 500th murder victim when he was fatally shot in the head outside a convenience store on the city's West Side.
The last time Chicago reached the 500-murder mark was in 2008, when the year ended with 512 killings. Last year, city records show Chicago had 435 murders.
↧