CHICAGO — A 24-year-old man was found shot in a South Side alley Thursday afternoon, police said, but CPD dispatchers did not receive any calls about gunfire in the area before he was discovered. The shooting occurred on a block monitored by the city’s ShotSpotter gunfire detection network until Mayor Brandon Johnson ended the city’s relationship with the company on September 23.
In a media statement, CPD said someone in a vehicle fired shots at the victim in the 400 block of East 109th Street around 2:34 p.m. The victim suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was admitted to Christ Hospital in critical condition, police said. .
An officer on the scene said the shooter may have been in a black Ford Escape that was traveling east after the shooting.
One of the benefits of the ShotSpotter network is the ability to notify first responders of shootings even if no people report the gunfire.
Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) represents the area where Thursday’s victim was shot. He was part of a 66% City Council majority that tried to convince Johnson to keep ShotSpotter active.
Johnson declined to renew the company’s contract past its expiration date, claiming he promised to pull the plug on ShotSpotter during his campaign for office. He decided to remove the city’s gunfire detection network, despite overwhelming support for the technology among councilors, city residents and his hand-picked police inspector.
‘Sometimes you have to break campaign promises’ Beale said in the days before the system was shut down. “You only have to break for what is in the best interest of the entire city, not just a select few.”
About this series
On September 23, 2024 at 12:01 a.m., Chicago ended its relationship with ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system deployed in 12 of the city’s most violence-affected neighborhoods.
Mayor Brandon Johnson stubbornly refused to reconsider his decision to dismantle ShotSpotter, even as the vast majority of councilors, many citizens, victims’ advocates and his hand-picked police commissioner asked for it to remain in place.
This reporting series, called “Brandon’s Bodies,” seeks to document shooting victim cases and police investigations that could have benefited from gunshot detection technology.
The general criteria for inclusion is a gunshot victim found outdoors in a location previously served by ShotSpotter, with either (1) no accompanying 911 calls about gunfire, or (2) calls about gunfire in a general area that is not lead to the timely location of the victim.
