During the ongoing July 4 holiday weekend, Chicago has witnessed a rise in violent crimes, the latest being the shooting of four people in a drive-by. 

The said four men were standing outside in the 1000 block of West 89th Street were wounded when an unknown assailant drove by and shot them moments before America entered its 245th year of independence. 

One of the men, 51-year-old, was hospitalised in critical condition with three gunshot wounds to the leg, according to CNN reports.

A 49-year-old and a 40-year-old were in stable condition with gunshot wounds, and a 50-year-old was in good condition with a gunshot wound to the buttocks.

Till early Sunday morning, no suspects had been arrested.

Meanwhile, at least 16 other people had been shot in Chicago since Friday, police said Saturday. And at least six of them were killed.

In another incident, a 40-year-old was playing music when a neighbour living in the same building complained about the noise. 

The neighbour came to the victim’s front door, where the two had an argument and the alleged shooter shot the victim multiple times, police said. The victim died at the scene.

According to CNN reports, the Chicago Police Superintendent has called the Fourth of July weekend the “most challenging weekend of the year” for police.

In another shooting incident, a 39-year-old man was shot in the head while riding in the back seat of a vehicle on Chicago’s west side and died early Saturday morning, police said.

No arrests have yet been made for the aforementioned shootings.

While the police department has claimed they are doing their part in protecting the city in “historically unprecedented ways”, locals criticised police leaders for not including more community organisations, churches and other stakeholders in conversations on how to address violence, according to CNN input.