US gun violence: More than 100 shot, 14 killed in Chicago over Fourth of July weekend

A total of 102 people were shot in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend in the United States leaving at least 14 dead in an unusually violent Independence Day holiday, according to police and local media reports.

Police officials said that there was a total of 71 shooting incidents and 14 murders recorded between 6 pm CDT on Friday and early Wednesday as the city continues to struggle with rising rate of gun violence.

The data was given by police spokesperson Frank Giancamilli on Wednesday, according to Reuters reports.

The Chicago Tribune newspaper calculated the total number of people shot in these incidents and noted that around 102 people were shot between Friday afternoon and early Wednesday in the city. The number was not immediately provided by the police officials.

Chicago Police First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro, during a press conference on Wednesday, said that gangs were one of the major source of violence in the city.

Reports state that Chicago police had deployed an additional 1,300 officers to patrol during the Fourth of July weekend, and a total of 58 arrests were made on gun and drug charges before the holiday.

The police said that the number of shootings hiked during a six-hour period on Monday night and was recorded at a higher number than in 2013, the last time when the Fourth of July weekend lasted for four days. 

The weekend's shootings brought the total number of people shot in Chicago this year to more than 1,800. According to Tribune reports, the number is slightly lower than last year this time when spike in gun violence had seen around 2,035 people being shot in the city.

The spike in violence over the weekend came when US President Donald Trump tweeted that gun crime in Chicago had reached epidemic proportions" and that he would be "sending in Federal help."