WATCH: Violent Chicago Gathering Sends Beach Goers Running, Screaming

Chicago Police shut down a violent, reckless gathering downtown this weekend, resulting in the arrest of 15 individuals. According to NBC Chicago, hundreds of people (a large portion of them teenagers) swarmed Millennium Park, jumping on cars, setting things on fire, and doing burnouts on busy city streets. Just one day prior to this incident, a similar event occurred in which a 14-year-old boy was shot near 31st Street Beach. People were seen screaming and running away from the gathering as shots rang out.

Video footage of the downtown incident shows police shouting "no loitering, please disperse" at the large crowd, forming a line in an effort to contain the violence. Local activists and business owners called for a citywide curfew following the back-to-back incidents to prevent criminal acts like this from happening in the future.

Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce President Bill Morton shared that he thinks that the police need to be funded more to be able to effectively combat crime throughout the community.

"This is killing our small businesses. This is causing an exodus outside of the state of Illinois and outside of the city of Chicago. We're losing revenue in the city of Chicago. We're losing residents in the city of Chicago. We need to give the Chicago Police Department the funding and the resources that they need to take care of this crime in our community."

Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded to this weekend's reckless gatherings by stating that respect for people and property begins at home.

"As I have said before, we as a city cannot and will not allow any of our public spaces to become a platform for criminal conduct," the mayor's statement read, in part. "Most importantly, parents and guardians must know where their children are and be responsible for their actions. Instilling the important values of respect for people and property must begin at home."