A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in an Uptown alley late Sunday night in what police describe as an attack carried out by a group of eight males on one of the neighborhood’s most dangerous blocks.
Officers responding to 911 calls of shots fired found the boy in the alley behind the 5000 block of North Winthrop around 10:28 p.m., according to police radio transmissions.
Officers immediately began lifesaving measures. One officer applied a chest seal, a medical patch designed to cover open chest wounds to help prevent the lung from collapsing, in an attempt to stabilize him, but he did not survive.
According to CPD, the teen was standing in the alley when eight people approached him. Someone in the group pulled out a gun and opened fire, striking him multiple times. Surveillance footage showed the suspects running south on Winthrop and then west on Argyle after the shooting.
Police quickly shifted resources to prevent possible retaliation, sending units to maintain a visible presence in rival gang territory near Sunnyside and Magnolia.
The boy is the fifth person shot in Uptown this year and the neighborhood’s first murder victim of 2025. He is the second person shot on the 5000 block of North Winthrop this year. A 22-year-old man was shot during a robbery on April 11, just a few yards from last night’s murder.
By this date last year, 10 people had been shot in Uptown, including three in the 5000 block of North Winthrop. All survived.
In 2023, four people were shot during a single incident on the block. All survived.
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