Chicago Weekend Bloodbath: 54 Shot, 7 Killed

Bodies are piling up on the streets of Chicago over Labor Day weekend – with 54 shot, including seven killed, as President Trump and Illinois Gov. Pritzker spar over sending the National Guard into the Windy City.

At least 32 separate shootings occurred in Chicago between Friday evening and noon on Monday, according to a review of police incident reports by ABC News.

Just hours after Trump posted a message on Truth Social on Saturday criticizing Pritzker’s handling of crime in the city, at least seven people were shot around 11:10 p.m. in Bronzeville. All of the people are expected to be okay.

Trump called the governor “weak and pathetic” for dismissing the need for a National Guard presence in the Windy City in the social media post.

The president further warned “we’re coming” — suggesting some sort of federal action on crime in Chicago — if Pritzker doesn’t “straighten it out, FAST.”

“National Guard troops or any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency – and there is not,” Pritzker said of the situation in Chicago.

He also vowed to sue the Trump administration if troops are indeed deployed.

“It’s an invasion with US troops, if they in fact do that,” Pritzker argued. “They’ll be in court pretty quickly,” he added.

Mayor Brandon Johnson also ended his speech at a “Workers Over Billionaires” march on Monday with a rallying cry of “No troops in Chicago. Invest in Chicago.”

Chicago had 573 murders in 2024, compared to 377 for New York City and 268 for Los Angeles. Chicago’s murder rate was about 22 killings per 100,000 people — compared with seven for LA and less than five for NYC.

That’s still lower than some major cities — including Detroit (32), Washington, DC, (27) and Atlanta (25).

Trump deployed thousands of federal agents and National Guard troops to Washington, DC, earlier this month as part of a sweeping crime crackdown.

Since the president declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital, violent crime has fallen by 45% – and carjackings are down a stunning 87% – when compared with the same period in 2024, DC Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser said earlier this week.

In June, Trump dispatched 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marine service members to California amid violent anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles.

By July 1, nearly all of the National Guard members and Marines had been removed.

The shootings include a 17-year-old girl who was inside her home when a bullet blasted through her front window and struck her arm, the outlet reported.

A 25-year-old woman was shot twice in the abdomen and once in the left leg on Friday evening. She was taken to a local hospital, where she died. A 23-year-old woman also wounded in the shooting, according to ABC7.

A 31-year-old man was also shot after being caught in the crossfire of gunmen traded gunfire from opposing vehicles, and two people were wounded while driving down a street over the weekend, authorities said.

At about 11 p.m. on Saturday, a 32-year-old man and a 29-year-old man were standing outside when a dark SUV approached the pair, and an unknown gunman exited and fired a gun at them, cops said.

The 29-year-old was struck multiple times and later died in the hospital, and the 32-year-old was hit in his right side but has now stabilized, CBS reported.

Meanwhile, at least four separate shootings have taken place since early Monday morning, leaving one 48-year-old man in critical condition, according to data from CBS News.

Pritzker did signal that he is willing to accept some federal support.

“We would like [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] agents to take more guns off the streets, we would like FBI to coordinate with our local law enforcement to help catch perpetrators of crimes,” the governor said. “If they would do that, we would welcome that.”

“But that’s not what they’re planning to do,” he said.