Chicago City Wire

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has responded to a spike in violent crime over Memorial Day weekend, when 53 people were shot and 11 were killed, calling the spree "intolerable."

Johnson blamed much of the violence plaguing Chicago on what he called an extended period of "disinvestment" in city neighborhoods causing economic hard times, which leads some to a life of crime and violence as a means of survival, according to a story by WLS.

"What we saw this weekend was a manifestation of community disinvestment, poverty, trauma that our city has struggled with far too long," Johnson said in the story. However, the newly elected mayor and other city leaders found a silver lining to the gloomy crime report, with Interim Chicago Police Department Superintendent Fred Waller claiming that 152 illegal guns had been recovered during the weekend, bringing the total number of guns taken off the street close to 5,000 this year.

Waller also said the city had much work to do to fight crime.

"It pains me knowing that too many of our residents have seen or experienced this proliferation of gun violence. No one should fear for their own safety in their own neighborhood," Waller told WLS.

After Corliss High School student and football player, Donnell Jamison was found shot dead in Fuller Park and his killer still at large, some of his classmates held an event at East 103rd Street in Pullman Wednesday, calling for the city to do more to keep its communities safe.

"With (Jamison) being a football player and someone's kid, a cousin, a brother, it hurts a lot because we're all family at the end of the day," senior Emari Hamilton told WLS. Students and family members have chosen to organize to help put an end to violence.

"As a teacher, that's something that I always do is lead with love, and let my students know that I love them and care about them," said educator Jordan Clayton-Taylor.

Johnson gave away little when asked about any changes he plans to make in law enforcement during his administration, but he promised that his office will do all it can to reduce violent crime in Chicago.