A $30,000 reward is now being offered for information leading to the arrest and indictment of whoever was responsible for Saturday night’s mass shooting inside Washington Park that left one man dead and 14 other people injured. The reward is a joint effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, CPD, and Cook County Crime Stoppers as investigators work to identify the people responsible for one of Chicago’s largest mass shootings in more than a decade.
Chicago police officers were already in the park, attempting to disperse a large picnic for former residents of the Robert Taylor Homes, when multiple people began shooting in the 5400 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue around 11:37 p.m., police said. One officer reported “nonstop” gunfire over their radio as people ran for cover.
CPD Interim Supt. Fred Waller said Tuesday that the shooting appeared to be “somewhat targeted,” with the man who was killed apparently being the intended target. He was identified as 35-year-old Rontonio Guterz. Waller also said investigators believe at least one shooter may have used a firearm equipped with an auto-fire switch, which allows a gun to fire multiple rounds with a single trigger pull.
A police report said two masked men started shooting before someone in the crowd returned fire. Cops recovered one firearm at the scene, while a witness reported seeing another man run away with a rifle. It remains unclear how many people fired shots.
Investigators recovered dozens of shell casings from multiple firearms. The ATF is assisting with the investigation and will forensically analyze the casings to determine whether they can be linked to other shootings or firearms recovered by police.
Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) said Tuesday that she drove past the picnic about three hours before the shooting and considered calling police because people were parked on the grass. She said she ultimately decided not to call because of the “effects of calling the police prematurely.”
Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-535-7867 or online at CPDTIP.com. Cook County Crime Stoppers does not require tipsters to provide their names, according to the organization’s executive director, Phil Rutherford. Tipsters instead receive a numerical code that can be used to claim the reward if their information leads to an arrest and indictment.
Saturday’s shooting marks Chicago’s 454th mass shooting since 2014. Those incidents have left 2,248 people shot, including 299 who were killed, according to HeyJackass, a website that meticulously compiles Chicago crime data from CPD reports and open-source materials. The site has adopted the widely recognized definition of a mass shooting: four or more people shot in a single event.
The shooting is tied for second-worst in Chicago since the site’s recordkeeping began in 2013. Its data show the Chicago shootings with the most victims are:
- 18 shot, four fatally, following a rapper’s release party at Artis Lounge at 311 West Chicago Avenue on July 2, 2025
- 15 shot, none killed, at a Halloween party in the 1200 block of South Pulaski Road on October 29, 2023
- 15 shot, none killed, outside a funeral home in the 1000 block of West 79th Street on July 21, 2020
- 14 shot, 1 fatally, at a Halloween party in the 800 block of South California on October 31, 2022
- 13 shot, none killed, at a memorial for a murder victim in the 5700 block of South May on December 22, 2019
- 13 shot, none killed, on the basketball court at Cornell Square Park, 1800 West 51st Street, on September 19, 2013
