The Associated Press reports that the number of murders in Chicago rose 18% in the first seven months of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007 - and Chicago police spokesman Monique Bond says the increase could be due to gang fights over turf.

The murder rate was showing a 13% increase for the year during May and June. However, 62 murders in July - including one each in Beverly and Morgan Park - helped spark the 18% jump.

Bond said the majority of homicides in Chicago are gang-related with high most offenders and victims having criminal histories. Police have yet to charge anyone in connection with two local shootings that occurred just days apart in mid-July.

A 19-year-old Morgan Park man was killed July 15 when two gunmen shot him and another man as they sat outside the victim's house.

A 26-year-old Beverly man was shot dead just five days earlier after he and another man were the targets of a gunman who approached them while they were sitting in their car in the 9600 block of South Charles Street.

If the trend in murders continue the rest of the year, Chicago would finish with more than 500 murders for the first time since 2003, when Chicago had more than 600 murders.

The Southwest OBserver surveyed its members last month to see what you thought about the area shootings and whether they were gang-related. Many agreed that they were. What do you think?