Chicago police seize 250 guns over violent Memorial Day weekend

Despite stepped up police patrols across the city, 51 people were shot – nine of them fatally – over a violent Memorial Day weekend.

Most of those shootings unfolded on the South and West sides, according to police.

"If you characterize the weekend’s violence, it was due to personal conflicts being resolved with guns," said Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown. "Arguments, petty arguments, senseless violence."

This comes despite efforts by the Chicago Police Department to enhance patrols over the holiday weekend, including by canceling uniformed officers’ days off.

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According to Chicago police data, the holiday weekend was the most violent since 2017 when seven people were killed and 45 others were injured. In 2021, four people were killed over Memorial Day weekend, while more than 30 others were injured in shootings.

Chicago’s top cop, on Tuesday, announced his department’s plans to combat crime this summer.

"We race to take guns off the street because every gun, every single one is a life saved," said Brown.

Over the three-day weekend, 250 guns were recovered — 75 of those guns were seized by Chicago police on Monday alone.

Of the 250 guns recovered, 26 were "ghost guns." This year alone, CPD has recovered 326 ghost guns.

To date this year, CPD has taken 4,631 guns off the streets.

"It was every day, every stop almost, everyone had a gun in the car," said Brown.

More than 150 gun-related arrests were made over the weekend.

Eleven of the 250 weapons seized were recovered from beachgoers at North Avenue Beach, while 13 arrests were made there this weekend, including several arrests taking place after a rowdy incident Monday night when a crowd was throwing glass and other objects at police.

"One main incident we had there was a large group of teenagers, playing music and twerking, and at some point they started throwing objects at the police. They were throwing glass bottles, glasses, and in one case an officer got hit in the chest with a pineapple which exploded on his chest and it was all over his equipment," said Chicago Police Chief of Operations Brian McDermott. "After that incident, we implemented a mass arrest, took three individuals into custody that were throwing objects at the police. Throughout the night we continued to recover guns."

Supt. Brown said his department will continue to step up security at beaches, the CTA, and parks throughout the city during the summer months.

Moving forward, Brown said additional days off may be canceled for uniformed officers as we approach other historically violent weekends in the city, including Father's Day, which also falls on Juneteenth, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day weekends.