Chicago nearing 200 homicides this year

CHICAGO - The number of homicides in Chicago this year is nearing 200 after the last weekend in April recorded 23 people shot, four of them fatally, according to police.

As of Monday morning, the count was at least 193 homicides - most of them fatal shootings. That is about the same number of killings as this time in 2016, a year that went down as the most violent in Chicago in two decades.

While homicides have kept pace, the number of people shot and wounded this year is down from the same time last year, according to data kept by the Chicago Tribune. As of Monday morning, at least 1,051 people have been shot, compared with 1,129 the year before.

While noting the 'modest reduction” in shootings, the Chicago Police Department said 'violence driven by illegally obtained guns remains unacceptably high.”

Three of the four fatal shootings over the weekend occurred during a six-hour period late Friday. The fourth fatal shooting happened around 1:45 a.m. Monday on the Southwest Side.