'An eye for an eye makes both of us blind'; Chicago police call for an end to gang-retaliation

CHICAGO - Police say last night's shooting of 15 people outside a funeral home is the latest incident in the ongoing gang violence plaguing Chicago.
    
In his remarks today, Police Superintendent David Brown painted a stark picture of just how wide-spread and complex Chicago's gang problem really is:

“We can't keep weeding out violence with violence. An eye for an eye makes both of us blind,” said Brown.

After last night's mass shooting, which he called gang-retaliation, the police superintendent said that there are an estimated 117,000 gang members in the city of Chicago, spread out among 55 major gangs, and some 2500 "subset factions."

“There used to be a time when you maybe had to go 10 blocks to get to a rival. Now, they're a block apart from each other,” said Curtis Toler of Chicago CRED.

Toler continued on to say that theses "factions" are getting larger. In the 90's, he says, there were may 10 or 20 super gangs. But now, you're looking at maybe 2,000 sub-groups.

As for breaking the cycle, Brown says police need help from the community.

“It ends when someone who has been hurt doesn't reach for a gun. It ends when instead someone calls our detectives and gives them a tip that might break a case open,” said Brown

Brown says Chicago Police have taken 5000 guns off the streets so far this year, have made 2500 gun arrests and vowed to "re-double" those efforts.

If you do have any info on last night's shooting, there's an online anonymous tip line at  "CPDTIP.COM"