A man was found fatally shot on a Near West Side street this week—the latest gunshot victim to go unnoticed until it was too late in a neighborhood that could once rely on ShotSpotter to detect gunfire.

Officers responded to a call of an unresponsive person in the 2600 block of West Wilcox around 9:13 p.m., according to a Chicago police statement. They found a 44-year-old man on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head.

Paramedics took the man to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

No one reported hearing gunfire in the area; however, officers at the scene reportedly found 12 shell casings near the man’s body, raising questions about how quickly first responders could have located the victim if the city’s ShotSpotter technology had still been active.

Mayor Brandon Johnson ended the city’s contract with ShotSpotter last September, despite concerns raised by a City Council majority and his own police superintendent. The shooting scene was within the boundaries of a ShotSpotter coverage zone before the system was turned off.

Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), who represents the area and announced plans to retire this week, voted in favor of keeping the system in place but later declined to support an effort to override Johnson’s veto of pro-ShotSpotter legislation.

“We need something in our community to not only keep our people safe, but also to help folks when they get shot,” Burnett said three days after the system was shut down. “Somebody can be beating you to death on the street and nobody will say anything.”

But, nearly ten months after the contract ended, the city has not announced any replacement for the gunfire detection system.

Brandon’s Bodies

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. ShotSpotter pinpointed the locations of suspected gunfire to exact street addresses and locations within those addresses, such as “in the alley,” “on the sidewalk,” and “on the side of the house.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson stubbornly refused to reconsider his decision to dismantle the system even though the vast majority of aldermen, many citizens, victims’ advocates, and his handpicked police superintendent asked for it to remain in place.

On this page, CWBChicago tracks cases where people have been found shot in areas that were previously covered by ShotSpotter without timely accompanying 911 calls. These cases often involve victims discovered with no corresponding 911 calls or calls that gave vague or incorrect information about where shots were fired.

Editor’s note: The case previously included as #13 on this list has been removed as of May 21, 2025, because the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office investigation determined the individual died by suicide in a fall from height.