ER Doctor: Children Gunshot Victims Make It 'Personal'

(CBS) –Many of this weekend's shooting victims ended up at Stroger Hospital on the West Side.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker spent the day in the emergency room talking with those on the front lines.

This weekend, at least 44 people were shot in Chicago. More than a third were rushed to Stroger.

Dr. Fred Starr was there, in the thick of the trauma, when 14 gunshot victims came in.

Most were men, he says, in their twenties and thirties.

"But when the children come in, they're in the wrong place at the wrong time and I think that is the biggest tragedy," Starr says.

Eleven-year-old Tymisha Washington came in Sunday night with three gunshot wounds. Two were life-threatening.

It hit home for Dr. Starr.

"I have two daughters of my own about that same age, and it makes it very personal," he says.

Prof. Shahram Dana teaches criminal law at John Marshall. His opinion:

"It has a lot to do with the economy. I think it has to do with how easy guns are accessible … We've become desensitized to violence."

When you see the violence every day, like Dr. Starr, "You focus on taking care of people and doing the best you can," he says.

Stroger sees more gunshot victims than almost any in the country. Last year alone, 6,500 trauma patients rushed through these doors -- 650 had been shot.