13 Chicago police officers were injured after hundreds of people took to the streets to riot and loot Sunday night. The unrest followed an incident where police officers shot a man, who officials said was armed.
Officers had responded to a call of a person with a gun on Sunday afternoon and approached a man who had matched the description of the suspect. The man was identified as a 20-year-old with four arrests for burglary, child endangerment and domestic battery. As the police confronted him, he ran away, shooting at them.
Two officers fired back and struck the man, who was taken to a hospital and was reported to be in stable condition.
After the incident, police began noticing social media posts that encouraged looting. Then they were called to reports of a mob just after midnight on Monday. Rioters broke store windows, looted and damaged property. Videos on social media also showed officers being hit with objects and rioters breaking into businesses.
The 13 injured officers included a sergeant who was hit by a bottle and another officer whose nose was broken, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said. He also said that people passing by in a vehicle shot at officers as they were arresting a man who had a cash register. More than 100 people were arrested during the night.
“This wasn’t an organized protest. It was an incident of pure criminality,” Brown said. “Criminals took to streets with confidence that there would be no consequences for their actions. I refuse to let these cowardly acts hold our city hostage.”
Despite the city’s strict gun laws, five guns were recovered during the night. The total number of guns recovered over the weekend was 149.
By looting and attacking their city’s police officers, Chicago rioters have proven that they only want to cause chaos and tear down the institutions that have kept millions of American safe from crime for decades. As riots continue, Chicago and many other communities stand to lose that safety.