Boy, 7, killed during violent July 4 celebrations in Chicago : News

At least 47 other people were wounded in shootings, which will do little to help Chicago’s reputation as a gun crime hotspot.

The shootings happened despite a 30% increase in the number of police officers on patrol in the city over the weekend, Mr McCarthy said. Instead, Tibbles promoted an interview with Chicago Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy, who told him that “his city remains in the grip of the gun because gun laws here are more lax than elsewhere.” The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, NBC News Chicago reported.

As families across the country gathered together to celebrate Independence Day over the weekend, the families of nine people mourned the loss of loved ones whose lives were claimed by gun violence in Chicago.

Investigators said they thought Amari’s father, who police said is a well-known gang member, was the intended target.

The bloodshed on the Fourth of July weekend had begun with the killing of 17-year-old Vonzell Banks, who had been shot in a park named after 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton. The superintendent says this holiday weekend, officers are recovering one illegal gun per hour on the streets of Chicago.

Earlier Sunday, a man was killed in a shooting that left two others wounded in the Northwest Side Albany Park neighborhood.

Amari was watching fireworks with his father in the Humboldt Park neighborhood just before midnight Saturday when gunfire erupted, striking the boy and a 26-year-old woman, who survived the shooting.

Mr Brown handed his son to doctors when they arrived at hospital, but he couldn’t be saved.

“The gun violence that was part of this weekend is totally unacceptable”, Mayor Rahm Emanuel told citizens.

Chicago’s July 4th Weekend has a tragic reputation for gun violence and other forms of crime, and this year was no exception.

“We can’t blame this on the system or on the white supremacists”. The city’s “outraged and saddened” police chief has pledged to stem the flow of guns into the area and overhaul a failing system.

“Quite frankly, I’ve never seen anything like this”, McCarthy said. Some of the weapons were displayed at the press conference. Police believe the gunman was intending to hit his father.

Police said they were questioning a person of interest.

According to the Chicago police official, 12 residents have been arrested, and then released, on their second illegal gun possession charge already this year.

“He says Amari was talking he was kind of going in and out of consciousness, but just didn’t make it, lost too much blood”, said Debbie Crews the victim’s cousin.