73 people hit by gunfire in Chicago over the weekend. At least 11 died, including 17-year-old

At least 73 people were hit by gunfire in Chicago this weekend. At least 11 of them died, including a 17-year-old boy.

People were shot in all but four of the city’s 22 police districts. More than half the victims were attacked in the Austin and Harrison police districts on the West Side and the Gresham and Englewood districts on the South Side.

Those districts cover some of the deadliest neighborhoods in Chicago, according to Sun-Times data: Austin, Englewood, East Garfield Park, Auburn-Gresham, West Garfield Park and Humboldt Park.

The city has recorded at least 426 homicides this year, down 1% from 432 homicides last year at this time but up 48 percent from 289 two years ago.

In the weekend attacks, the 17-year-old and a 15-year-old boy were in the backyard of a home in the 6800 block of South Peoria Street in Englewood when someone opened fire about 1:15 a.m. Sunday, police said.

The 17-year-old was shot in the chest and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He hasn’t been identified.

The 15-year-old was hit in the stomach and taken to the hospital in serious condition, police said.

Chicago police work the scene where a 44-year-old man was shot and killed in the 500 block of East 79th Street, in the Chatham neighborhood, Saturday, July 24, 2021.

Chicago police work the scene where a 44-year-old man was shot and killed in the 500 block of East 79th Street, in the Chatham neighborhood, Saturday, July 24, 2021.
Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Around the same time, a man was shot to death in a drive-by in Austin on the Northwest Side.

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