9 people died in gun violence on US Independence Day

A series of gun violence occurred across the city of Chicago last weekend, killing 9 people.

Amber Hailey, 28, mother of Amari Brown, 7, cries outside her home in Chicago on July 5 after learning her son was shot to death. Photo: The Chicago Tribune.

Thirty-three shootings occurred across Chicago, Illinois, from July 3 to 3 p.m. July 5, AFP quoted Chicago police officer Veejay Zala as saying yesterday. The youngest victim was 7-year-old Amari Brown.

Amari was shot in the chest just before midnight on July 4 while playing with other children in Humboldt Park on Chicago's west side and died two hours later in hospital. City police said the gunman was targeting Antonio Brown, Amari's father and a "gang member."

According to DNAinfo Chicago, nine people have died and 35 have been injured as of yesterday afternoon, since the Independence Day holiday began on the afternoon of May 2. Chicago police had previously pledged to work to avoid a repeat of last year's shootings, in which 84 people were shot, 14 of them fatally.

(According to Chicago Tribune/ TTO)