Chicago police reports increase in murders compared to 2019

CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago saw an increase in murders and shootings for the first three months of 2020, compared to the same period last year, the city's police department revealed Wednesday.

There were 93 people killed in Chicago between Jan. 1 and March 31, compared to 82 last year. However, the 24 murders in March was a 36% drop from the 35 murders in March 2019.

Through Tuesday, the city recorded 419 shootings, or a rise of about 22% from the same period in 2019, when there were 344 shootings.

Roseanna Ander of the University of Chicago Crime Lab says levels of crime last year were an anomaly because the especially cold winter kept people indoors.

Despite the higher numbers of murders and shootings, overall crime, including burglaries, robberies, thefts and carjackings, in the first quarter fell by about 4% compared to 2019, police said. The overall crime in March 2020 fell about 10% from March 2019. The number of shootings last month rose about 7% to 145 from 136 in March 2019.

The drop in overall crime comes amid a statewide stay-at-home order issued by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that went into effect March 21 to slow the spread of COVID-19.