Seven dead, nearly three dozen shot during Labor Day weekend in Chicago

Seven people were killed over Labor Day weekend, and nearly three dozen in total shot, as Chicago endured yet another deadly weekend, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The victims include two teenagers (15 and 18 years old) and others killed during drive-by shootings, or altercations at parties, or sudden attacks on street corners.

The weekend's violence began when 42-year-old Willie Coker was hit by shots reportedly from an unknown direction while congregating outside with others at about 12:20 a.m. Saturday. He was pronounced dead at the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest.

Angel Perez, 18, was shot in the chest at Humboldt Park at around 4:45 a.m. in a drive-by, and pronounced dead at the hospital. Another person who was with him at the time was shot but survived.

Later in the day, two other men, ages 26 and 32, were shot and killed, and three others wounded, when someone opened fire on a group sitting on a porch on the South Side.

Sunday around 4 a.m., a man was killed when one car shot at another as they passed each other. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man was killed during a shooting at a house party early Sunday morning.

Fifteen-year-old Dovantae Jackson was shot in the legs and back on the West Side, pronounced dead at the scene — the same block on which he lived.

Jackson's death represents the 338th homicide in Chicago this year. He was going to begin his freshman year of high school at Marshall Metropolitan High School on Tuesday.

"There is no better city in the summer than Chicago," Police Supt. Eddie Johnson is quoted as having said in a Sun-Times article published Sept. 1. "The warmer months can lead to conflicts, but CPD officers continue to work tirelessly to keep all of us safe."

Murders were down 23 percent in August in Chicago as compared to last year, and shootings down 19 percent.