By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
So far this year in Seattle, Washington there have been 32 murders, according to the Seattle Homicides Twitter page.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, the month of June has produced 25 slayings, increasing the total number of killings for the year so far to 254, and the year is not even half over. According to the popular website Heyjackass.com, the Windy City has racked up 1,018 non-fatal shootings, and over the course of the summer (May 26-Sept. 5 by the Jackass page’s calendar)—which Heyjackass is calling the “Summer of Joy” probably with heavy sarcasm, the prediction calls for at least 38 gun-related slayings, 187 shot and wounded, and a grand total of 43 homicides. Whether these numbers are reached will only be known following the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Chicago has gained the notorious reputation as a municipal slaughterhouse, racking up hundreds of murders annually, most of them with firearms that are possessed illegally by people who frequently have criminal backgrounds precluding them from lawful ownership.
Out of this carnage, the Heyjackass.com website has become a treasure house of information, breaking down the picture of murder in the city by victim gender and age, the race of both victims and assailants (the preponderance of both are black), the cause of death (91.7 percent are gunshot victims), and even shot placement; that is, where the victims were struck by bullets. There is even a section involving police shootings.
The site uses a variety of sources including reports in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, Chicago Police Department data and other resources.
Last year, according to the site, there were 737 murders in the city of which 665 were victims of shootings, which was down 16 percent from 2021, when there were 856 killings including 798 who were fatally shot, the site archives said.
Meanwhile, the number of murders in Seattle amount to a fraction of Windy City homicides. Public attention is focused on the murder Tuesday of a 34-year-old businesswoman, Eina Kwon, who was also 32 weeks pregnant. The baby was delivered in the hospital but died a short time later. She owned a restaurant in the city’s Belltown section, where the murder, said to be a random killing, occurred.
The suspect in this case turns out to have been from the Chicago area, and he is a convicted felon, who should not have had a firearm. According to Seattle police, the suspected murder weapon was a 9mm Smith & Wesson M&P Shield in 9mm, which was reported stolen in the city of Lakewood, in neighboring Pierce County.
