This past Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend, Chicago recorded 46 shooting victims and 8 deaths.
Cincinnati recorded at least 7 shooting victims and 4 deaths.
Consider what those numbers mean together. Chicago has approximately 2.72 million residents. Cincinnati has about 311,000. One city is nearly nine times larger than the other. Yet during the same weekend, Cincinnati suffered half as many fatal shootings as one of the largest cities in America.
The four deaths between Saturday night and Sunday morning tell a story that is harder to dismiss than any statistic. Gunfire killed Kenneth Burton, Theresa Dudley, and Brenea Burton along two blocks of Millvale Court on the west side. Two hours and one minute later, someone shot and killed 18-year-old Cornelius Edrington Jr. at Fairview Park while police cleared a crowd nearby. Four people died before sunrise. Detectives opened two unrelated investigations. Police have not announced suspects in either case.
Those deaths came on top of a spring that had already exhausted the city’s patience. In May alone, gunfire killed 25-year-old Darius Wheeler at Fountain Square. A fight on a Route 46 Metro bus ended when someone shot and killed 52-year-old James Bond near the Cincinnati Zoo. Another shooting near the Northside Transit Center wounded four people. Moreover, the incident sent bullets into surrounding businesses…