Chicago City Wire

An evening visiting Chicago’s iconic ‘The Bean’ turned when a 16-year-old died from a shooting.

“We, as a city, cannot allow any of our public spaces to become platforms for danger,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement on Twitter. “Anyone coming into our public spaces should expect to enjoy them peacefully and must respect and exhibit basic community norms of decency.”

Many leaders like Mayor Lightfoot have also brought concerns about the safety of Illinois.

Seandell Holliday, 16, was standing near ‘The Bean’ statue in Chicago’s Millennium Park around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday when he was shot and killed, NBC Chicago reported. The boy was pronounced dead at Lurie Children’s Hospital.

“Young people are welcome everywhere in our city, but community norms require respect for each other, people’s property, and the sanctity of life,” the mayor said on NBC. “We must also have zero tolerance for young people carrying firearms or settling petty disputes with acts of violence. We all must condemn this behavior in the strongest terms possible and continue to take action against anyone who violates these basic community norms.”

The shooting took place as a large crowd was gathered in the park, NBC News reported. In total, 26 minors and 5 adults were arrested that evening, and authorities recovered eight weapons and made five gun-related arrests. A 17-year-old male suspect has been taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder for the 16-year-old’s murder. As of May 8, there had been 779 shootings and 194 homicides reported in Chicago so far in 2022.

“I continue to call upon parents and guardians to step up, to ensure that your children understand basic values of respect and that you take responsibility for knowing at all times where your children are and who they are with,” Mayor Lightfoot said on NBC.

Over the weekend in Chicago, at least 33 people were shot, five of whom were killed, ABC News reported. Holliday was the youngest homicide victim, while a 13-year-old boy was the youngest person injured by gunfire. The 13-year-old was standing outside on the sidewalk shortly before 2 a.m. on a Sunday when he was shot.

To address safety, a release from the Office of the Governor said that Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the new 2023 Fiscal Year budget for Illinois that’ll fund hiring 300 new State Police troopers.

Gun violence in Illinois costs the state's taxpayers more than $7 billion every year, Giffords Law Center reported. Almost three-quarters of homicide victims in Illinois are black men, even though they comprise only 7% of Illinois' total population.