Man Fatally Shot in Austin Is City’s 500th Homicide Victim This Year - Chicago Sun-Times
Man Fatally Shot in Austin Is City’s 500th Homicide Victim This Year - Chicago Sun-Times
Nathaniel T. Jackson had been shot before — and lived to tell the tale.
But as a shooting survivor only a few months out of prison, the career criminal and reputed gang member had long been at increased risk of becoming a statistic.
Outside a West Side convenience store Thursday night, he became a particularly grisly one — Chicago’s 500th homicide victim of the year.
The milestone marked the first time since 2008 that the city has seen at least 500 homicides — and only the second time since 2003. With less than a week left until the new year, it left Chicago’s per capita homicide rate at more than double that of Los Angeles and more than three times New York’s.
Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and Mayor Rahm Emanuel all year have both fought back against criticism about the increased murder and shooting numbers.