At least nine people were killed and 28 others wounded in a spate of shootings since Friday night in Chicago, according to local reports.
The most recent shooting death occurred on Sunday afternoon in the city's South Side, where a 19-year-old was shot from a passing vehicle, according to the Sun-Times Media Wire. The man died in the hospital after the 2:50 p.m. (3:50 p.m. ET) shooting, the Sun-Times Media Wire reported.
At least 17 people were shot, one fatally, from 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday alone, according to the Chicago Tribune.
That fatality was a 28-year-old man who was found at around 3 a.m. on Sunday inside a vehicle, police and the medical examiner’s office told NBCChicago.com and the Chicago Tribune.
A 17-year-old was also fatally shot by someone riding a mountain bike on Friday, according to NBCChicago.com.
Read more on this story on NBCChicago.com
One of the youngest to be shot since Friday was a 15-year-old girl who was hit in the chest while smoking marijuana on Friday evening, NBCChicago.com reported. Police said that shooting was not "intentional."
'We're basically treading water'
In the midst of the violence, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy defended his department's anti-violence strategy.
"We're not winning, we're not losing. We're basically treading water," McCarthy said on Saturday. He said that in the month of August, "we had some trouble because some of these retaliatory shootings are happening quicker than we can stop them."
Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com
The Chicago Police Department is trying to deal with a 28-percent spike in the city's homicide total in 2012 compared to the same period last year, The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Sunday.
Nineteen people were shot late Thursday and early Friday, NBCChicago.com reported. Thirteen of those were shot over a 30-minute period.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- High wind, rains lash Florida Keys as Isaac strengthens
- Family of Reagan shooter John Hinckley can't afford legal bills
- Astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on moon, dies at age 82
- Grizzly mauls hiker to death at Denali National Park
- Video: GOP hurdles heading into convention
