Chicago had its deadliest January in more than a decade after the city recorded a total of 292 people wounded from gunfire in 241 separate shooting incidents, according to NBC Chicago. Fifty-one people died from their injuries.



Chicago record 29 homicides for the month of January last year and 20 homicides for the month in 2014, according to USA Today. Today reports the City’s 241 shooting incidents is more than double the 119 incidents recorded last January.



This uptick in violence occurs after the City logged 486 homicides in 2015, according to stats compiled by DNAinfo.com

Chicago’s level of violence outpaces New York City and Los Angeles despite not being as populous. The Chicago Tribune reports the two cities had comparable stats through about Jan. 23 – “some 60 shot or injured, 20 of them fatally.”

CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielm attributed the rise in violence to gang conflicts.

“The vast majority of incidents originated from petty disagreements that escalated into gun violence that tore apart families,” Guglielmi said in a statement. “We will continue to work tirelessly on ways to stop violence, and restore accountability and trust in communities throughout the city.”

John Escalante, a 29-year CPD veteran serving as interim police superintendent, blamed gang disputes, the easy availability of firearms and social media disputes for the violence, but was unsure on exact causes.

“We can’t put our finger on any one or two things that are driving this really big spike in violence, especially with the murders,” he said. “We look at it every day, talk about it every day, trying to find where we can deploy resources better or what we can look for to try to predict the next potential shooting location.”

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