Shooting victim’s screams are mistaken for drunken behavior on a block that used to have ShotSpotter

As it turned out, the man had actually been shot in the back. The bullet exited through his abdomen. Nobody had called to report gunshots in the area.

It’s unclear how long the man was lying there before someone called 911, however CPD says the shooting occurred at 8:42 p.m., about five minutes before the “person down” call was dispatched to police.

Had Mayor Brandon Johnson not disconnected the city’s ShotSpotter service on September 23, the dispatcher likely would have known about the shots fired and had units on the way before any 911 calls came in. And she’d be able to quickly make the connection between a man on the ground yelling and the gunfire, expediting the police and fire response.

But Johnson did pull the plug on ShotSpotter, so here we are.

About this series

As of 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2024, Chicago terminated its relationship with ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system deployed in 12 of the city’s most violence-impacted neighborhoods.

Mayor Brandon Johnson stubbornly refused to reconsider his decision to dismantle ShotSpotter, even though the vast majority of aldermen, many citizens, victim’s advocates, and his handpicked police superintendent requested that it remain in place.

This reporting series, named “Brandon’s Bodies,” seeks to document cases of shooting victims and police investigations that could have benefited from gunshot detection technology.

The general criteria for inclusion are a gunshot victim found outside 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 do not lead to the timely location of the victim.