Two Chicago USPS mail carriers were robbed at gunpoint within minutes of each other Tuesday afternoon as crime in the city remains high under a new mayor.
One of the mail carriers, a 52-year-old man, was robbed and shot and is now in serious to critical condition at a hospital, a local ABC affiliate reported. Surveillance video shows both letter carriers just before they were robbed and the same white Kia driven by the suspects in the crimes at both scenes.
Crime in the city spiked 38 percent in the month after new mayor Brandon Johnson (D.) took office in May. Robberies in the Windy City have risen 17 percent compared to this time last year, according to city police data, and have increased 30 percent over the past three years. A slew of weekend shootings last month left at least 33 shot—with 6 dead and 27 wounded.
Johnson argued in his campaign the city should "have health professionals, not police, respond to crisis calls." He was the only candidate who did not support filling the 1,600 vacancies in the Chicago Police Department. Johnson has also called "defund the police" a "real political goal."
Although police have recovered the car, the suspects remain on the loose.
"You just have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. You just never know," Chicago resident Carolyn Mitchell told a local ABC affiliate. "You just never know if it'll be you. If they attack the mail carriers, I walk down this street, somebody could attack me."