Seven dead in 24 hours in Chicago this weekend.  Nine if you count two killed changing a tire.

A vast majority of the homicides likely had gang affiliations.

When are we, as America, going to declare war on gangs and the violence they perpetuate upon America?

Chicago (Tribune) – Four shootings — two of them double homicides — and a stabbing left 7 people dead Saturday, authorities said.

Including one that was the fourth and final offspring of one particular woman.

We’ll let Second City Cop fill you in on that one.

Once is happenstance,
Twice is coincidence,
Three times is enemy action.
— Auric Goldfinger (Author Ian Fleming)

Four times is a failure of parenting.
— SCC

In other words, you managed to raise a family of assholes:

    A man slain on the West Side early this morning had two brothers and a sister who also were fatally gunned down in the city, according to a close family friend.

“He was the last one,” said Laverne Smith, 30, who said his mother no longer has any children. “I know she’s hurting.”

Smith said it’s unthinkable this could have happened again to the family.

Really? We can name any number of west and south side “families” that have at least that many family members planted in local cemeteries because of poor lifestyle choices. How much did this family managed to drain from taxpayer funds during their short, brutish run on earth?

Laverne Smith then went on to say this:

“It’s ridiculous,” Smith said. “We need to get the guns off the street and build a good life for our babies. We need to really get together and stop fighting.”

Smith heard loud gunfire about 2 a.m. and ran outside in the 1100 block of South Mozart Street to find her close friend Ronnie Chambers shot in the head. He died in her arms.

Laverne blames guns, an inanimate object that has never killed anyone spontaneously by itself.  It’s merely a tool, used criminally by criminals – specifically Laverne’s fellow Obama voters, and more specifically still, inner city gang members.

Before you get all weepy-eyed at the death of this Ronnie Chambers guy, let’s look into the content of his character:

On the Ricki Lake show, Chambers identified himself as former gang member who turned his life around and was trying to help others stay away from that kind of life.

Police said he’d been arrested 29 times, and has four felony convictions. Records show his most recent conviction was in 2005 for receiving, possessing  or selling a stolen motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 3 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, records show.

Smith said Ronnie, whose nickname was “Scooby,” had been “trying to change his life.”

Why are these guys always “former” gang members who are “trying to turn their life around”?

CHICAGO ISN’T SAFE

It’s not just gang-bangers whacking fellow gang members.  Sometimes they accidentally hurt other innocents.  These thugs victimize innocent people left and right to subsidize their criminal lifestyle, too.

If you’re visiting Chicago, you’re literally risking your health and well-being with the massive violence that occurs there.

“Oh, I’m not a gang member!” you say.

Well, these two weren’t gang members either.

Vehicle strikes 2 people, killing both, on Southwest Side

Chicago (Tribune) – A vehicle struck and killed two people changing a tire in the Scottsdale neighborhood late Saturday, authorities said.

About 10:45 p.m., the vehicle swerved and struck two people, who were outside a vehicle on the Southwest Side, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines said. Both people died on the scene, Gaines said.

The accident happened in the 3800 block of West 87th Street, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The medical examiner identified the two victims as William Brunson, 39, of the 8200 block of South Harper Avenue in Chicago, and Victoria R. Means, 34, of the 14100 block of South School Street in south suburban Riverdale.

And this elderly man probably wasn’t a gang-banger either…

78-year-old Far South Side man dies month after robbery

(Tribune) – A 78-year-old man robbed at gunpoint and beaten up last month has died, authorities said.

J.W. Moore, who lived near 102nd Street and Bensley Avenue, was attacked about 2:45 p.m. on Dec. 10 in an armed robbery near his home, authorities said. Moore’s family told the Tribune last month that he was doing well.

But Moore later was admitted to hospice care and the Cook County medical examiner’s office today was notified of his death, according to the office. An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday to determine his cause of death.

The victim had stepped out for a walk Dec. 10 and was thrown to the ground and robbed at gunpoint in the South Deering neighborhood, according to police and his daughter’s fiance.

And then there’s this case where a store owner was robbed at gunpoint, gave the robbers his money, but they still shot him in the back as he tried to flee.

Cops ask for help finding killer of SW Side auto-repair shop owner

Chicago (Tribune) – Police Tuesday night released a sketch of a robber suspected in the slaying of a Gage Park auto-repair shop.

Michael Kozel, 57, was shot about 5:20 p.m. Jan. 2 in his shop, Independent Mufflers Inc., 5654 S. Western Ave., during a robbery by two men, authorities have said.

Two men entered the shop and asked about making a purchase, but then one of them showed a gun and demanded money, police said. Kozel tried to flee but was shot in the back once as he tried to run away, authorities said.

The two then robbed the rest of those at the shop, police said in the alert issued tonight.

And it’s not just homicides as folks are getting robbed all the time…

A quick response by a sergeant early today led to the arrest of three men accused of robbing a man as he was hailing a cab in the Lakeview neighborhood on the North Side, police said.

A fourth suspect managed to escape after fighting with the responding sergeant, who was left with cuts and bruises but declined hospital treatment.

Terrell Williams, 18, of the 3300 block of Western Avenue in Park Forest, William Brown, 25, of the 300 block of South Western Avenue in Chicago, and Dontay Underwood, 19, of the 500 block of West Chestnut Street in Chicago, were each charged with robbery, according to a news release from police News Affairs.

And it seems they can’t get along with one another either.  This guy poured gasoline on a woman and set fire to her, killing her.  Oh yeah, it’s said that he was an illegal alien too.

Man charged after fire that killed woman, injured daughter

Police have charged a man with murder after a Wednesday night fire killed a 35-year-old woman and injured her 6-year-old daughter.

A police report obtained by the Tribune identifies the man as the late woman’s husband and the father of the injured girl.

According to the report, Gregorio Carmona, 35, poured gasoline on Claudia Martinez before lighting the fatal fire that claimed her life.

And then there’s the two-year-old girl beaten to death and nobody knows what happened…

Autopsy: Girl, 2, was beaten to death

(Tribune) – A 2-year-old girl from Chicago’s South Side was remembered by neighbors as happy, energetic and healthy Sunday night, not yet a day after she died.

Layla Stewart, of the 2000 block of West 69th Place in the West Englewood neighborhood was pronounced dead at 2:12 a.m. Sunday morning. She died from multiple injuries sustained in a beating, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

…No one was yet in custody in connection with the homicide, Purkiss said. Police are investigating the incident as a homicide.

And if all that’s not enough to make you want to stay away from Chicago, we’ll leave you with this photo of a man sleeping on an El train in Chicago.

Great place to spend a vacation or business trip, eh?