More Children Under 17 Have Been Shot in Chicago Than Have Died of COVID-19 in 2021

More Children Under 17 Have Been Shot in Chicago Than Have Died of COVID-19 in 2021


In the United States, 214 children aged 17 years or younger, have died thus far in 2021 from COVID-19 according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In that same time frame, 261 children have been the victims of Chicago shootings. 41 of those children died.

More children have died from gunshots in the city of Chicago than have died from COVID-19 in the entire state of Illinois. “The Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed to Fox News that 25 people under the age of 18 have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, or six in every 100,000 people under 18 in Illinois. The CDC has recorded 18 total COVID-19 deaths in Illinois in 2021, as Outkick first reported.”

Fox News reports that “While COVID-19 cases among children increased significantly between August and September, deaths among this group make up 0-0.27% of all COVID-19 deaths in the states reporting data. Seven states reported zero deaths among children, according to the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics.”

Labor Day weekend horrifically resulted in 63 people getting shot, including eight children. Six of the victims died, including a 4-year-old who was shot and killed while getting his hair done inside a west side apartment.

Sadly, deadly weekends in Chicago are not new headlines. 100 people were shot over the fourth of July holiday weekend, prompting President Biden to visit Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot to discuss possible solutions to the city’s overwhelming gun violence.

Not only are crime rates high, but justice is not being served for the victims. “The police don’t know anything yet because no one is talking. No one is coming forward,” The 4-year-old’s mother Angela Gregg told the Chicago Tribune.

“People aren’t answering their doors, and the people that are answering their doors are saying they don’t know anything. … Somebody in Chicago knows something.” Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown delivered a statement Monday to reporters, asking criminal offenders “Why are you continuing to be around young people, our children?”

“You’re harming this community. You’re harming these families…and we will be relentless in pursuing you as an offender” Brown said. Lightfoot also spoke Monday saying, “I understand the fear that’s out there but I’m just calling upon people in these neighborhoods…You’ve got to have your faith overcome your fear, you’ve got to step up.”


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