So far this year, Chicago has most homicides since late 1990s

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Amid a spike in shootings, the city of Chicago has witnessed its deadliest start to the year in nearly two decades, according to crime statistics.

With January and February complete, the Chicago Police Department counts 95 homicides, the same as in 1999. There hasn't been a deadlier start to the year since 1997, when the city had 101 homicides in the first two months and 761 for the full year.

The official police count includes only violent deaths considered criminal. This year's toll rises to at least 102 if all violent deaths are counted, including a man shot by police and two alleged robbers killed by a shop owner in a shooting considered justified by investigators. By that same measure, there were 52 violent deaths by Feb. 28 last year — about half this year's total, according to data compiled by the Tribune.

The rise in violence this year has been concentrated mostly through neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side and West Side that for decades have been stricken by poverty and a lack of investment from the city, and that are plagued by a gang activity and drug sales.

No word yet from Barack Obama on this story.