By the end of November, homicides in Cook County, which includes Chicago, reached 1,000 for the first time since 1994. A 71-year-old Chinese immigrant who came to the United States almost penniless and worked his way to success as a restaurant operator was shot 22 times and killed in broad daylight near his home. A Christmas-light decorator was killed in front of his home; several others, working for a neighborhood nonprofit, were mugged.
The fall season also kicked off a spree of organized looting at high-end city and suburban stores.
