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UPDATE: Chicago Logs ‘Tragic’ 500th Homicide of the Year

Dec. 28, 2012 6:40pm Jason Howerton

Credit: Getty Images

Update 8:23 p.m. EST: Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says the city has logged its 500th homicide of the year.

McCarthy issued a statement Friday calling the milestone a “tragic number that is reflective of the gang violence and proliferation of illegal guns that have plagued some of our neighborhoods.”

The police department went back and forth Friday, first verifying the 500th killing, then backing off and saying an earlier death was still being investigated.

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CHICAGO (TheBlaze/AP) — Chicago police say it’s too soon to say whether the city has had its 500th homicide of the year.

The Chicago Police Department homicide tally stood at 499 on Thursday before a man was fatally shot in the head outside a convenience store on the city’s West Side. That would have made 40-year-old Nathaniel Jackson the 500th homicide victim.

But police clarified Friday afternoon that the department’s official homicide tally still stands at 499 because a death in a domestic dispute earlier in December has been classified by the coroner’s office as inconclusive pending toxicology tests. It was originally logged as a homicide.

The Chicago Tribune has more:

The case in question is last Saturday’s death of 57-year-old Edward Phelps. He died following a domestic-related altercation in the 0-99 block of North Long Avenue in Austin, police said.

Although he appeared to have suffered a blunt force injury, his autopsy on Sunday at the Cook County medical examiner’s office was ruled inconclusive, pending toxicological studies.

Still, police classified Phelps’ death as a homicide in the days following the autopsy, according to internal reports. It wasn’t until this afternoon that McCarthy’s spokeswoman, Melissa Stratton, citing the autopsy results, said the department reclassified the case as a death investigation.

The last time Chicago reached the 500-homicide mark was in 2008, when the year ended with 512 killings. Last year, city records show Chicago had 435 homicides. As of Thursday night, homicides were up 17 percent over last year in the Windy City and shootings had increased by 11 percent, police statistics show.

Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, but that hasn’t deterred violent crimes or shootings.

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Comments (75)

woodyee
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:34pm
Hey! JASON!

It’s been hours since you posted this story – how about giving Chicago a call and asking for an update? Also, we used to have “Caption This Photo!” until recently…how about honorable mention to anyone who gets closest to the time Chi-town hits 500?

I’m betting it was approx. 8PM EST!

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- doomytram
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 10:19pm
  How about the 2500 near murders in Chicago this year. One weekend in July there were 120 people shot and nearly killed. Sitting in the ICU for weeks on your dime………Round up the Cabrini Green’s guns first and the feed them some knives.
  
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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 11:07pm
  500 less liberals on the street….
  
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- Maji
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:37am
  Maybe they should pass a few gun laws!
  Surely the good people of Chi-town will obey!
  
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- yougottabekidding
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 8:47am
  Have faith two days left!
  
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- NOTALOTTAYITTAYADDA
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 8:57am
  Blacks make up less than 13% of the population, yet 50% of the murders are…. Oh, I can’t bring up facts.
  Screw it, I hope to be wearing cheif Knoka Homer on my ball cap next week.
  
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- turkey13
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 9:05am
  Us poor folks here in Oklahoma are busting our buns to break 50 homicides for the whole state. I believe that it’s that pesky gun carry law and the new open carry law that went into effect on Nov. 1st that is holding us back.
  
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CalhanUS
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:44pm
Cut the murder rate if half with one step! Proof straight from the DOJ, FBI, CDC & UN:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/12/listening_to_the_latest_media.html

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- doomytram
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:02pm
  The truth about guns and murder is stranger than Leftist fiction. As the Reverend Al Sharpton put it, “The time for their talk is over. Now’s the time for action, and real change on gun control.” What Sharpton is saying in his quote is this – Do nothing about Obozo’s Gun Running, operation a joint effort with the drug cartels, that sends more unmarked guns and drugs to cities that have murder problems like LA and Chicago. Sharpie is saying tax and confiscate the guns from law abiding citizens. Take away or round up these citizens and waste the money on indoctrination and flushing it down the commode.
  
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LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:32pm
There’s still three more days to go, in this year. The numbers will go up.

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LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:30pm
If all the Union Thugs and Blacks were to move out of Chicago, crime would decrease by 95%.

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- DadRocked
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:37pm
  So would the population but it will inflate the same crap in the ‘burbs’
  
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woodyee
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:28pm
It’s 5:27pm, PST…

Surely they’ve passed the 500 mark by now…

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- chitown
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:48pm
  From 1990 to the present, there have been almost FIFTEEN THOUSAND murders in Chicago. The 15,000 mark will be surpassed by years end.
  
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Diane TX
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:00pm
Stupidity at it’s finest. As if one LESS counted death is better than one MORE.

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- chips1
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:05pm
  Wait a few minutes and it will jump from 499 to 511.
  
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- chitown
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:11pm
  As a former member of the cpd I can attest to the intense pressure from city hall to kill crime (pardon the pun.
  
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FISH_BONE
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:33pm
“Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, but that hasn’t deterred violent crimes or shootings.”

Really? Unbelievable! Who would have guessed?

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FISH_BONE
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:31pm
It’s a shame Barry can’t spend more time in Chicago.

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- G-WHIZ
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 9:36am
  Wonder why??
  
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HI_Don
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:25pm
Oh thank God, 499. Whew. I thought we had a real problem when they said it was 500, but 499…Well that’s better. Now I can sleep at night.

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- QuincySmith
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:05pm
  Fortunately, I don’t live in (or near) Chicago; therefore I sleep pretty well at night. But, you are right: nearly 1 and a half persons are killed every day. The year is not yet over and New Year’s Eve is upcoming. I suspect Chi town will not escape the year at 499.
  
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- chitown
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:18pm
  New Years eve is a big night for Chicago shootings. If it doesn’t snow and the temp hovers around freezing you can expect the bangers to have a banner night. Godfather Rahm may have to push some of the murders past midnite and add them to 2013.
  
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- G-WHIZ
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 9:39am
  I was born ina Chicago…how did i miss-out alla duh funn?! (duck-an-weeve) :=)
  
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missdagnytaggart
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:20pm
Hows gun control working for ya’ Chitown?

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dodgedart1966
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:15pm
When guns are banned, watch for a record number of ‘stolen weapons’ being reported to police.
I know someone will ‘steal’ mine if they are banned.

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- rawmilker
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:32pm
  Not only is Chi-town the murder capital of America, they are also a sanctuary city. The FED’s can’t even question illegal aliens about their suspected gang affiliation…per Obama policy. Chicago now ranks above Montgomery County, Md., and Los Angeles both with sanctuary designations, as home to the nation’s most vicious illegal alien criminal gangs.
  
  http://www.newsmax.com/JamesWalsh/Chicago-Sanctuary-City-Murder/2012/10/05/id/458886
  
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- rawmilker
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:34pm
  DODGEDART, we’re not going to let them ban guns!
  
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Coded-Dude
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:56pm
15 cities in the United States that reported the most murders and non-negligent homicides in 2011:

New York — 515
Chicago — 431
Detroit — 344
Philadelphia — 324
Los Angeles — 297
New Orleans — 200
Houston — 198
Baltimore — 196
Dallas — 133
Memphis — 117
Phoenix — 116
St. Louis — 113
Washington D.C. — 108
Kansas City, Mo. — 108
Oakland, Calif. — 104

Re-order the list for Homicides per 100,000 people and the list is much different:

New Orleans — 49.1
St. Louis — 40.5
Baltimore — 34.8
Detroit — 34.5
Oakland — 22.0
Washington D.C. — 21.9
Kansas City, Mo. — 21.2
Philadelphia — 19.6
Chicago — 15.2
Memphis — 13.2
Houston — 11.8
Dallas — 11.3
Los Angeles — 7.6
Phoenix — 7.6
New York — 6.4

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- Eternal
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:17am
  Great work. Could you put the demographics /% in this and see hoe itnbubbles up? My guess is that the murders are with blacks n Hispanics predominantly.
  
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- Flashydave
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 1:27am
  wow thats real negrotiation!
  
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denkat56
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:54pm
Don’t worry, there’s still time, you’ve 3 days left, I know the city won’t let America down.

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- chips1
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:11pm
  The magic number seems to be 512. Going for the record.
  
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noslave
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:53pm
like the song OOPS THERE GOS ANOTHER??

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BSdetector
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:52pm
Good thing none of those are gun related, since we all know guns are illegal in Chicago…

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- rickc34
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:18pm
  LOL yeah they died from spit wads to the head and torso. Crazy Chicago.
  
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Tri-ox
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:51pm
No need to worry – obama’s Chicago will easily pass the 500 mark by midnight Monday. Another record year for the ultra-liberal, GUN FREE, communist mecca of Chicagoland!

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- 1TrueOne55
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:25pm
  I guess that the old saying about Dead is Dead! But with Politicians its all about the numbers of why and what weapon was used so that they can abuse our ears screaming vote for me and I’ll make it safer I’ll work on banning the _________ (put in the highest percentage of weapon used) to keep you safe. And no matter what they do it still does not change the fact that Dead is Dead no matter if you use gunpowder and a lead projectile or an axe or chainsaw, how about changing the speed limits to reduce the death rate of car accidents. We don’t see that line of reasoning yet… But by reducing speeds of cars to 35mph you get two effects less deaths and better gas mileage an lower carbon monoxide pollution since it takes less fuel to travel 35 mph than it does 75 mph.
  
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Robphelps
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:50pm
What, how can that be….they have gun control. Must be Bush smuggling guns into Chicago and handing them out to those poor, inner-city kids who have suffered under all the Bush tax cuts.

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RJJinGadsden
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:50pm
Its as if they are shooting for the record!

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- FISH_BONE
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:07pm
  rim shot please.
  
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- chips1
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:15pm
  Rim shot? Ask Flobama about those.
  
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RoDogg
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:50pm
Wait a second!!! Those numbers can’t be right! Doesn’t Chicago have some of the strictest gun laws in the country??? *sarcasm

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The-Monk
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:49pm
Well… that won’t last too long. Probably not even the night. : (

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OUT THE REGRESSIVES
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:49pm
I am sure number 500 was surpassed while they put out the retraction.
Hell of a mayor you have Chicago. Just another Big Socialist Party guy.
By the way, I have been to Chicago and enjoyed it.
Not sure I would want to go back now.

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RoDogg
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:47pm
The fact that the pres is from Chicago AND community organized there, should send chills down people’s spines.

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gyro
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:47pm
this is so sad very very sad

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AmericanStrega
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:46pm
Well geez. It is Friday night. I’m sure there will be at least one more human being that will be murdered before midnight.

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randy
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:45pm
It will be back to 500 before the end of the night.
Wondering how many of the 499 were white?
And how many of the shooters, if caught were white?

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- gyro
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:48pm
  be nice
  
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- randy
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:55pm
  I am being nice……
  Facts get in your way much?
  
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