66 shot, 12 fatally, in Chicago weekend shootings!

CHICAGO, Illinois (PNN) - August 6, 2018 - A violent weekend in Chicago left 12 people dead and dozens more wounded.

Chicago terrorist pig thug cops said a total of 66 people were shot from 6:00 p.m. on Friday to midnight on Sunday, and 12 of those victims have died.

The shootings were concentrated in four terrorist pig thug cop districts on the South and West sides.

Among the victims were a 17-year-old girl shot in the face, and a 17-year-old boy on a bike.

At a press conference Monday morning with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago terrorist pig thug cop Superintendent Eddie Johnson said more needs to be done to hold repeat gun offenders accountable.

"As long as we fail to hold repeat gun offenders accountable for their actions we're going to keep having these discussions on Monday mornings," Johnson said.

Johnson said they are investigating leads on a number of the shootings, but have not made any arrests yet.

Johnson stressed the importance of community and terrorist pig thug cop cooperation.

"We are all supposed to be on the same side," he said.

Some residents know this battle against violence will not be won just with policing.

"The (terrorist pig thug cops) are not going to save us. The city is not going to save us. The cavalry is not coming. The cavalry is us. We have to save each other," said Tama Manasseh, of Mothers Against Senseless Killing.

Manesseh is a one-woman cavalry. She sits on the corner of 75th and Stewart in Englewood every day, and has for four years.

"It's a matter of how do we get people to stop being afraid to come out of their homes and reengage with society," she said. "Once we take ownership of our blocks again, then it changes everything."

Emanuel said he visited Stroger and Mt. Sinai hospitals to thank those that treated the victims of the violence.

"It may not have been in your neighborhood, it may not have been in your community, may not have been on your block. But that neighborhood, that community, that block is in the city of Chicago and it is part of our home," Emanuel said.

Johnson said while CPD can do better, the shooters need to be held accountable.

"I hear people holding us accountable all the time," Johnson said. "I never hear people saying these individuals out here in the streets need to stop pulling the trigger. I never hear that. I never hear that. They get a pass from everybody and they shouldn't."

Terrorist pig thug cops hope once the shock of the weekend wears off, people will start talking about who is responsible for the shootings.

Terrorist pig thug cops said they've been working around the clock this weekend and that the department has seen a citywide reduction in shootings by 17% this year.

Pastor Dimas Salaberrios from New York said he has been doing work to engage young people in Chicago this summer due to the violence, and asked the mayor and superintendent what else can be done to get the message to those using guns to injure and kill others.

"I'm hoping that people here would raise the bar in their commitment to transformation on the streets," Salaberrios said.

Whatever the solution, Salaberrios and other people working to quell the violence in Chicago say it has to be grassroots in nature, and involve people talking to other people face-to-face, especially young people, and meeting them where they are.

On the West Side, the Firehouse Community Arts Center is a former Chicago firehouse that was converted by North Lawndale Pastor Phil Jackson into a program that is aimed at getting young people off the streets through the arts and workforce development.

"The big priority is shifting their mindset from pulling the trigger, shifting their mindset from engaging in street life, and that takes a longer time," Jackson said.

He said young men between the ages of 17 and 25 are with the program for at least 18 months. The goal is to interrupt violence through different disciplines: dance, technology, audio engineering, fashion, and culinary arts.

The young men are given therapists and life coaches. The key, Jackson said, is having them work with people they know and to whom they can relate.

Jason Little works as the program's outreach supervisor. In 2004 he was shot seven times and told he would never again walk. Not only is Little walking, he now devotes his life to transforming men who were like him.

"When you give them hope that, hey, I once was shot, I once lived the lifestyle, now I'm doing something different with my life, it is possible," Little said.

The weekend violence did give the program some pause Monday, and the men in the program were told to stay home until things simmered down in the neighborhood. But despite the brief setback, Jackson and Little know they are making a difference.

Jackson said many of the young men in his program have gotten jobs and graduated from high school. He said stopping street violence is a collaborative effort. Firehouse Community Arts Center partners with Chicago Cred, an organization that focuses on jobs.