Washington: US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to "send in the Feds" to deal with the "carnage" in Chicago if the city did not fix the problem, his tweet said.
"If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24 per cent from 2016), I will send in the Feds!" the President said, ABC news reported.
Trump took a bleak outlook on the city and the thousands of shootings that took place there in 2016 alone. During his rallies, he frequently spoke of what he described as the "horrors of the inner cities".
In 2016, there were some 3,550 shooting incidents and 762 murders in Chicago.
On January 2, days before his inauguration, Trump came down heavily on Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
"Chicago murder rate is record setting ... in 2016. If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help!" the then President-elect was quoted.
It was, however, not immediately clear what prompted or what exactly Trump meant in his tweet by "send in the Feds".
The number of murders in 2016 was the highest since 1996, which was a 57 per cent increase since 2015.
On new year alone 28 people were shot in the city.
Emanuel in his turn criticised the President and his continued focus on the size of his inaugural crowd.
"This is unsolicited advice: You didn't get elected to debate the crowd size at your inaugural," Emanuel said, according to the Chicago Tribune.