Politics & Government
Amid Violent Crime Spike, Aurora Mayor Pledges New Initiatives
"We're seeing so much more violence than we've seen in this city in over a decade," Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said Tuesday.
AURORA, IL — Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin is promising to launch several new initiatives to reach young people who “fall through the cracks,” with the city experiencing a “major uptick” in violent crime in recent months.
Irvin was praising several of the city’s existing youth programs during Tuesday’s City Council meeting when he said “it’d be irresponsible” to recognize “the good that our kids our doing” without talking about the recent spike in violent crimes.
“Our Black and Brown boys are killing each other,” Irvin said.
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Violent crime rates have risen across the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic due to historically high unemployment “and the anxiety of what we’re going through in this pandemic and in our country,” Irvin said, adding there has been “so much more violence than we’ve seen in this city in over a decade.”
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It would be easy to sit back and blame the coronavirus pandemic for the recent wave of violent crimes, Irvin said.
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“But we can’t do that here in Aurora. We can’t just simply say ‘It is what it is.’ We’ve got to do something more,” Irvin said, inviting aldermen to join him at a press conference Feb. 3 at City Hall to announce new community programs and initiatives from the Aurora Police Department.
“We’ve all taken steps back during this COVID crisis, but now it’s time for all of to take steps forward and make sure we protect our community, protect our families, our neighborhoods, protect our young children — sometimes from each other and themselves,” Irvin said.
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A string of shootings and violent crimes have been reported in Aurora throughout the past five weeks.
A 26-year-old Aurora man was charged with several felonies after Kane County deputies alleged he shot at a person while driving past them on Christmas afternoon in Aurora Township.
Eighteen-year-old Mario Palacios Jr., of Aurora, died two weeks after he was shot Dec. 29 while driving his car on the city’s East Side, police have said.
One man died and another was injured during a New Year’s Eve shooting on the Farnsworth Avenue bridge, according to police.
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An Aurora mother of two is facing a long road to recovery after she was shot during a carjacking Jan. 15. Kim Weibring, 47, was eating in her SUV at a Wendy’s restaurant when several men opened her door, put a gun to her head and forced her to the ground, her family has said.
One of the men then shot Weibring in the lower back before they fled the area in her vehicle, police said.
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Weibring is "optimistic and remains upbeat that she will walk again, but now faces spending the rest of her life in a wheelchair," her friends and family wrote on a GoFundMe page.
Ivan Valles, 20, is facing two counts of first-degree murder after Aurora police alleged he shot and killed 32-year-old Fernando Carapia on Jan. 15.
A Chicago teen is facing reckless homicide charges after police alleged he crashed a stolen car Saturday night while fleeing from police, killing two passengers. Kevon Bonner, 19, was arrested minutes after the crash in a nearby yard, according to police.
Police said a man died Monday afternoon after a reported shootout between two cars on Aurora's Far East Side.
Aurora police are also investigating a shooting that occurred Monday night in the 2500 block of Sutton Lane.
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