Shootings over the Fourth of July weekend left 10 people dead and 55 others wounded, a toll lower than last year but one marked by an intense stretch of gun violence over eight hours on one of the nights. 
 
 Among those killed was 7-year-old Amari Brown, shot in the chest as he watched fireworks near his father's home in Humboldt Park late Saturday night. Police say they believe the attack was aimed at the father, whom they described as a ranking gang member. 
 
 Also gunned down was 17-year-old Vonzell Banks, who was shot as he played basketball Friday at a park named for Hadiya Pendleton, a high school student fatally shot in 2013 near President Barack Obama's Chicago home. 
 
 The wounded included a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl shot shortly after midnight Sunday as they walked in Old Town, and a 19-year-old man shot around 10 p.m. Saturday as two groups fought near Navy Pier after the fireworks display there. 
 
 The violence peaked from dusk Saturday until dawn Sunday, when 30 people were shot across Chicago -- nearly half the total for the entire weekend, measured from 3 p.m. Thursday until just before dawn Monday. 
 
 Last Fourth of July, 82 people were shot, 16 of them fatally, over 84 hours. Five of those shot were wounded by police. There were no police-involved shootings this year. 
 
 Mayor Emanuel and CPD Superintendent McCarthy respond July 6, 2015, to another violent weekend after increased security efforts by Chicago police. The youngest victim of this past weekend’s gun violence was a 7-year-old boy; police say the boy's father was the intended target. (WGN TV) Mayor Emanuel and CPD Superintendent McCarthy respond July 6, 2015, to another violent weekend after increased security efforts by Chicago police. The youngest victim of this past weekend’s gun violence was a 7-year-old boy; police say the boy's father was the intended target. (WGN TV) SEE MORE VIDEOS 
 
 The shootings this Fourth of July were primarily scattered across the South and West sides. 
 
 Englewood -- the police district with more shootings than any other in the city so far this year -- did not have a single person shot over the holiday weekend. 
 
 A number of other neighborhoods saw several shootings: Little Village, four people shot; Back of the Yards, six shot; and the Austin neighborhood, eight people shot. 
 
 Two North Side neighborhoods -- Old Irving Park and Albany Park -- each had shootings in which three people were wounded. One man died in the Albany Park shooting. 
 
 Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the weekend outbreak in violence shows the number of officers working the streets isn't as critical in preventing shootings as having effective gun laws that put gun offenders behind bars for a long time. McCarthy has long contended that Illinois' sentencing laws for gun crimes are too lenient. 
 
 "If you think that putting more cops on the street would make a difference, then take a look at the fact that we put a third more manpower on the street for this weekend," McCarthy said. "What's the result? We're getting more guns. Well, that's great. It's not stopping the violence. 
 
 "And it's not going to stop the violence until criminals are held accountable and something is done to stem the flow of these guns into our city." ||||| Marchers protesting the killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white police officer took over North Michigan Avenue on Friday at the height of post-Thanksgiving shopping in Chicago's most famous retail district. They blocked traffic and the entrances to many stores and prompted other businesses to lock their doors in the biggest public display since video of the shooting was released earlier this week. 
 
 About 1,000 people took part in the march, including some of the highest-profile protesters since the video was made public Tuesday. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, former mayoral candidate and Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, and U.S. Reps. Bobby Rush and Danny Davis walked with the throng, which pushed off from just north of the Chicago River and congregated in front of Water Tower Place about a mile north. 
 
 The protesters then turned their attention to the stores, trying to bring commerce to a halt in the city's commercial center. 
 
 There was an element of the surreal throughout the day. Milling tourists posed for selfies in the middle of Michigan Avenue, which was shut down to vehicles for hours. And people continued making purchases on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, in some cases finding alternate entrances or pushing their way through protesters attempting to stop them from getting inside. After being closed for a time during the protest, The Gap reopened and a DJ led shoppers in the "Cha-Cha Slide" as the chanting for justice for McDonald continued outside. 
 
 Many of the protesters said they felt hitting at stores' bottom lines would get them more attention than simply marching. 
 
 "We want to show them how it's done in Chicago," one speaker shouted into a megaphone in front of Water Tower Place. "Let them just feel the empty cash registers." 
 
 Marchers tried to get into the mall as police held them back. Protesters also blocked the entrances to Victoria's Secret, the Apple store, Neiman Marcus and more than a dozen other retailers while chanting "16 shots and a cover-up," referring to the number of times McDonald was shot. Some stores along Michigan voluntarily locked their doors as the march went past. 
 
 "People listen to economics," protester Chris Lewis said as he joined others blocking the door to the Ralph Lauren store. 
 
 Not everyone was enthusiastic about the tactic. Angelica Delgado, 29, of Lincoln Square, said barring shoppers from stores was "ignorant" and that they should keep their protest on the street. 
 
 "Other people shouldn't have to pay for what happened to him," she said. "I feel sorry for him, and what they did is wrong, but don't take away other people's freedom." 
 
 The video has drawn nationwide attention to the 17-year-old's October 2014 death, and the march Friday along the Magnificent Mile on a cold, wet day was the most prominent demonstration by those critical of the incident and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's response to it. 
 
 Marchers carried signs calling for the creation of a community police accountability council. They chanted "If we don't get it, shut it down." 
 
 Carolyn Johnson, 53, of Englewood, said she came downtown to press for the firing of police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez because it took so long for charges to be brought against police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot McDonald. 
 
 CAPTION Protesters marched down the Magnificent Mile on Black Friday in support of police shooting victim Laquan McDonald and called for the resignation of police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Protesters marched down the Magnificent Mile on Black Friday in support of police shooting victim Laquan McDonald and called for the resignation of police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) CAPTION Protesters marched on Michigan Avenue in Chicago to protest the death of Laquan McDonald and the handling of the investigation into his death. People also blocked access to some stores on the Magnificent Mile. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) Protesters marched on Michigan Avenue in Chicago to protest the death of Laquan McDonald and the handling of the investigation into his death. People also blocked access to some stores on the Magnificent Mile. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) 
 
 "This is what they need to do: clear the air, make it clean. Don't go halfway, go all the way," Johnson said. 
 
 Protests in recent days have been largely peaceful. Police made a handful of arrests during downtown marches since the release of the video. 
 
 On Friday, police said four people were taken into custody at the Michigan Avenue march. Alan Giuliani, 42, of Libertyville, was charged with misdemeanor battery after police said he prevented a customer from entering Zara's clothing store, 700 N. Michigan Ave., and then pushed and punched a female manager. Two other people were arrested for traffic-related incidents. 
 
 Friday's demonstrators included a large contingent from the Chicago Teachers Union, which mobilized opposition to Emanuel's re-election bid early this year. 
 
 "I'm outraged," said Gabriel Sheridan, a teacher at Ray Elementary School in Hyde Park. "The mistreatment of people and corruption in this city, I don't think it's specific to Chicago but I'm pretty outraged that my students have to live in fear every day. 
 
 "The path forward is to keep people united, to keep people watching out for each other, to try to teach people to treat each other with respect and kindness." 
 
 After announcing that Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis would attend the Friday event, CTU officials later said she was not on hand. The union's vice president, Jesse Sharkey, did take part. 
 
 Critics of the city's handling of the investigation into the shooting have asked why it took Emanuel so long to release the video, and why he did so only in response to a judge's order that the mayor's administration spent months fighting. And they have asked why Van Dyke continued to collect a paycheck for more than a year after he shot McDonald near 41st Street and Pulaski Road. 
 
 Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder this week by Alvarez. The charges came just hours before the court-ordered release of the dashboard camera video that shows the officer shooting McDonald, who was holding a knife and had PCP in his system at the time of his death. 
 
 Protesters have called for the firing of McCarthy and for an independent prosecutor to look into Alvarez's handling of the situation. Emanuel has said he will stand behind McCarthy. 
 
 Van Dyke, 37, is being held without bond pending a hearing Monday when a judge in the case will view the video. The officer is no longer being paid by the Chicago Police Department. 
 
 Tribune reporters John Byrne and Rosemary Regina Sobol contributed. 
 
 jjperez@tribpub.com 
 
 kthayer@tribpub.com 
 
 jcoen@tribpub.com 
 
 lbowean@tribpub.com 
 
 gwong@tribpub.com ||||| Chicago police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting in the 1000 block of North Lavergne on Chicago's West Side. (Chris Sweda/ Chicago Tribune) 
 
 On the surface, Nathaniel Jackson fit the profile of the vast majority of Chicago's homicide victims in 2012 — he had a lengthy arrest record and alleged gang ties. 
 
 But when Jackson was shot and killed Thursday night, just months after getting out of prison, he also earned the unfortunate distinction of being the 500th homicide victim in Chicago this year, a grim milestone the city reached for the first time in four years. 
 
 While Chicago had almost twice as many slayings 20 years ago as it did this year, the number 500 is a largely symbolic threshold, a reminder of the year's escalated violence and a numerical bar the city had not reached since 513 were killed in 2008. 
 
 By mid-November the city already had tallied the most homicides in four years. As of Friday, Chicago had an estimated 17 percent increase in homicides over 2011, and an 11 percent increase in shootings, according to police. 
 
 The city's rising homicide tally has been a thorny issue for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Superintendent Garry McCarthy for much of the year. 
 
 "It was a milestone on those days when we had zero murders and zero shootings. Those are milestones. This is a negative one, something that we never wanted," McCarthy told the Tribune Thursday afternoon, hours before Jackson, 40, was killed. "But in perspective, there's no such thing as an acceptable murder number. Even if we cut it down to 300 next year, it's still … unacceptable." 
 
 The department went back and forth Friday over whether Jackson was the 500th homicide victim so far this year, at first confirming it and then denying it, saying a homicide last week had been reclassified as a death investigation, therefore making Jackson the 499th homicide. But by late afternoon, the department once again confirmed there had been 500 homicides. 
 
 "The city has seen its 500th homicide for 2012, a tragic number that is reflective of the gang violence and proliferation of illegal guns that have plagued some of our neighborhoods," McCarthy said in a statement. "Every homicide in Chicago is unacceptable to me and the hardworking men and women of the Chicago Police Department, who, this year, achieved a record drop in overall crime throughout our city." 
 
 Chicago's homicide rate also remains a major issue for Emanuel heading into the new year. Beyond the very real human cost, there's a perception problem for the city. 
 
 The homicide rate in Chicago far exceeds the rates in New York City and Los Angeles. While the homicide rate in LA has remained relatively flat and New York's has gone down — homicides there have fallen by more than 20 percent this year — Emanuel, known for carefully trying to craft the narrative of his tenure as mayor, has seen Chicago's violence attract national attention. 
 
 The mayor was on vacation Friday with his family but issued a statement to the Tribune: 
 
 "Chicago has reached an unfortunate and tragic milestone, which not only marks a needless loss of life but serves as a reminder of the damage that illegal guns and conflicts between gangs cause in our neighborhoods," Emanuel said, adding that his efforts to lengthen the public school day and provide before- and after-school programs for youths were part of the eventual solution. 
 
 Emanuel last week also noted that overall crime in Chicago was down about 8.5 percent for the year. 
 
 This previous winter was particularly violent. In the first three months of 2012, when the city experienced unseasonable warmth, homicides ran about 60 percent ahead of the 2011 rate. As the year went on, the increase in killings leveled out but still remained higher than in previous years. 
 
 In his statement Friday, McCarthy lauded the overall drop in crime in the city and said department efforts resulted in less violence in the latter part of 2012. 
 
 "CPD has put the right people in the right places to accomplish our long-term goal of reducing crime and ensuring that our streets and our neighborhoods belong to the residents of this city," McCarthy said in his statement. "Since the gang violence reduction strategy was adopted, we have seen drastic reductions in shootings and homicides that spiked early in the year." 
 
 Some within the department feel the disbanding of two specialized units that swooped into "hot spots" to reduce violent crime had a negative impact on this year's rate. After McCarthy was installed last year as the city's top cop, he eliminated those strike forces to move those officers to beat patrols, in the hope they would have more meaningful and positive interactions with the community. The department now uses cops who work all over the city to fulfill the same function as the strike forces, but these "area teams" comprise fewer officers. 
 
 McCarthy has blamed the proliferation of guns on Chicago's streets and the splintering of large street gangs into small factions as reasons for the homicide spike. 
 
 In October, the Tribune reported that 1 in 4 homicide victims this year were affiliated with the Gangster Disciples, the city's largest street gang, and one also riddled with internal conflict. 
 
 Jackson, who authorities described as being affiliated with the Four Corner Hustlers street gang, falls into a category shared by more than 80 percent of Chicago's 2012 homicide victims: those with criminal histories.
– Chicago might have been making headlines this weekend for the thousands of people who packed downtown for Lollapalooza. Instead, most of the attention is focused on the shooting violence that occurred elsewhere in the city, leaving more than 60 injured and 10 dead between Friday evening and Monday morning, reports WLS-TV. The worst of it took place in a three-hour span starting around midnight Saturday when 30 people were shot, reports the Sun-Times. Of those victims, 25 were injured in five mass shootings. Police say gang violence is mostly to blame, with shooters taking advantage of large gatherings in the summer weather to inflict the most casualties. "If they shoot you, they don’t even run,” one man tells the Chicago Tribune. "They just walk away, they ain’t trying to run." A police spokesman says the extra police presence at the music festival did not play a role in the violence because officers working it were generally on their regular days off and on OT. The violence prompted Rudy Giuliani to enter the fray with a series of tweets backing Garry McCarthy, a former Chicago police chief who hopes to unseat Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "MAKE CHICAGO SAFE AGAIN!" tweeted Giuliani, who worked with McCarthy in New York when Giuliani was mayor. Giuliani called McCarthy a "policing genius" thanks to his work with the data-centric CompStat system, adding, "Chicago murders are direct result of one party Democratic rule for decades." The Washington Post can't resist pointing out that Giuliani misspelled McCarthy's first name as "Jerry" and the current mayor's last name as "Emmanuel," and that McCarthy is a Democrat himself.