CHICAGO (AP) — The year 2021 ended as one of the deadliest on record in recent years in Chicago.
According to statistics released by the city's police department on Saturday, there were 797 homicides compared to 772 in 2020 and 498 in 2019. That is also the highest total since 1996 and higher than recorded in any city in the United States for the year.
Police Superintendent David Brown says that the bulk of the killings were related to the city's street gangs. He also says the department recovered more illegal guns than ever before and its detectives cleared more homicide cases than in any year in nearly two decades.
