A group of Chicago pastors plan to gather at Stroger Hospital on the city’s West Side Tuesday to pray for an end to the violence plaguing the city.
They want to shed light on the most violence weekend so far this year. Police said 66 people were shot, 12 fatally, since 5 p.m. last Friday.
Pastors say they plan to pray for the families of recent victims of gun violence and the staff at Stroger.
The hospital saw an unusually high volume of gunshot victims over the weekend, plus two more shootings occurred in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood late Monday night.
City leaders weighed in on the surge of gun violence on Monday.
“What happened this weekend didn’t happen in every neighborhood in Chicago and it’s unacceptable for it to happen in any neighborhood in Chicago,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
“These shootings are not random. They are fueled by gangs. We know who they are,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
A spokesperson for Stroger said doctors treated everyone who needed care, and the hospital limited visitation to immediate family members so the medical teams could offer their full attention to the patients.
The group of pastors said the families of gun violence victims are also planning to be in attendance Tuesday morning.
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