Murdered boy found in Washington Park area once covered by ShotSpotter system

A woman heading to work on Wednesday morning discovered the body of a murdered 16-year-old boy lying next to her car in Washington Park, prompting a homicide investigation that once again raises questions about the city’s lack of gunfire detection capabilities.

The woman called 911 around 7:55 a.m. after finding the boy on a parking pad behind the 6000 block of South Prairie Avenue. Officers arrived to find the victim dead from a gunshot wound to the chest. The woman’s vehicle had bullet damage, too, indicating the boy was likely murdered where he was found.

The woman told police she heard gunfire overnight, but the city’s 911 call center received no reports of shots fired in the area. However, at about 2:48 a.m., roughly five hours before the boy was found, a police officer reported hearing gunfire north of the Grand Crossing (3rd) District station at 7040 South Cottage Grove Avenue, about a mile from the shooting scene. That officer searched the neighborhood but did not locate any victims or evidence.

CPD later recovered at least 20 shell casings at the murder scene. As of Wednesday evening, the boy remained unidentified.

The 6000 block of South Prairie was monitored around the clock by ShotSpotter, the city’s gunfire detection system, until Mayor Brandon Johnson ended Chicago’s contract with the company one year ago. Without that network, the city’s emergency center relies solely on 911 callers and officers’ observations to detect shootings.

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) represents the block where the boy was found. She questioned ShotSpotter’s effectiveness when the system came up for a contract renewal in April 2024.

“I live in a ward which has benefited, but also ShotSpotter has been problematic. If anybody knows where my office is, it’s right off the expressway, and I can count the number of times on my hands and feet that the police have showed up and it’s been the backfire from the expressway,” Taylor said, according to Block Club Chicago. “And so if we’re going to spend money on something, let it be something that actually works, or something that we can collect clear data on.”

Later in the year, when the City Council voted on a measure that would give CPD Supt. Larry Snelling the authority to enter into a new contract with ShotSpotter without Johnson’s involvement, Taylor didn’t show up to vote. But, she told reporters that she would have voted to give Snelling the power if she had shown up. Hers would have been the 34th vote in favor of the measure, exactly enough to override a Johnson veto. Instead, it passed with only 33 votes.

About this series

At 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2024, Chicago officially ended its use of ShotSpotter, the gunfire detection system that operated in the city’s most violence-plagued neighborhoods. The technology provided Chicago police with precise alerts about gunfire, often down to exact street addresses or specific spots like alleys, sidewalks, and gangways.

Mayor Brandon Johnson pressed ahead with the shutdown despite pleas from most aldermen, many residents, victims’ advocates, and even his own police superintendent, who wanted to keep it in place.

On this page, CWBChicago tracks cases where people were found shot in areas formerly covered by ShotSpotter—incidents where the system could have played a vital role in providing a timely response, especially when no 911 calls were made or callers gave vague or inaccurate details about gunfire locations.

Editor’s note: A case previously listed as #13 has been removed as of May 21, 2025, after the Cook County Medical Examiner determined the individual died by suicide in a fall from height.