Police reported 120 homicides in Chicago from January 1 to April 1, 2012, 60 percent higher than the same period in 2011, according to an article from the Chicago Tribune.
Chicago police are blaming street gangs for much of the violence, while criminologists list the unseasonably warm weather this winter as another contributing factor, the article says. However, experts caution that concluding too much from a few months of crime statistics can be misleading, and they noted that Chicago has been at historic lows for homicides in recent years.