ShotSpotter gives cops 2-minute jump start after gunmen fire into dance studio, injuring a 13-year-old and 3 adults

September 18, 2024 7:40 AM CWBChicago Citywide
Children and adults scatter after shots are fired into a dance studio on May 16, 2024. (Telemundo)

CHICAGO — A ShotSpotter gunfire detector gave Chicago police officers a 2-minute head start after four people, including a 13-year-old girl with special needs, were shot inside a Back of the Yards dance studio on Monday. In fact, according to police radio transmissions, officers arrived in the 1500 block of West 51st Street a full 97 seconds before dispatchers announced that they had received calls of people shot.

Hours after the shooting at Body Factory Nutrition, 1500 West 51st Street, Mayor Brandon Johnson defended his unpopular decision to end the city’s contract with the gunfire detection system as of September 22, flippantly dismissing ShotSpotter devices as “walkie-talkies on a stick.”

Not only did ShotSpotter nail the location of the initial shooting — 1502 West 51st Street — it also directed officers to a second location where shots were fired about a half-block from the dance studio. Cops found 12 shell casings there.

“When we finished dancing, and we all got together for the photo, that’s when we heard gunshots,” Liduvina Balboa told Telemundo Chicago.

Video shows what happened:

Police radio audio shows that an officer on patrol reported hearing shots fired near 51st and Wolcott at 8:25 p.m. Monday. About 20 seconds later, the local police district’s intelligence center, using ShotSpotter, gave the exact location: 16 gunshots on the sidewalk at 1502 West 51st Street, a half-mile from where the officers heard the shots. That was followed by six more shots, with multiple gunmen firing.

At 8:26 p.m., 31 seconds after the ShotSpotter confirmation, a cop announced that he was chasing a suspicious person who ran into an alley at 51st and Justine, just a few yards from the dance studio.

Dispatchers received the first 911 call about people being shot at the dance studio at 8:27 p.m. That call and a subsequent 911 call helped police find the victims inside the business.

Here is an unedited clip of the police radio transmissions from the moment officers heard shots fired to the victims being found:

Audio source: Broadcastify

And here is the actual audio of the gunfire from ShotSpotter’s sensors:

According to CPD, two women, ages 48 and 57, were in good condition with gunshot wounds to their upper extremities, while a 29-year-old man was in good condition with a gunshot wound to the back of his neck.

Anahí Vásquez, 13, was in fair condition after being shot in her lower back.

“She started crying when she felt the bullet hit,” Idalia Sánchez told Telemundo at Anahí’s hospital bedside. “I just held her and told her everything would be okay. I kept telling her she’s strong and prayed to the Virgin Mary and God to protect her.”

Both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times editorial boards have published opinions in favor of keeping ShotSpotter. The Tribune also published a letter from researchers at the University of Chicago Crime Lab who concluded that the gunfire detectors likely save 85 lives per year in Chicago.

Ralph Clark, CEO of ShotSpotter’s parent company, told CWBChicago on Monday that the company had given the city a proposal to keep the system live in Chicago through next year “at a very attractive rate.” Without being specific, Clark said the city’s monthly fee would be “less than the monthly rate they paid this past go around.”

Telemundo says the dance studio’s owner is closing his business until they find a new location.

Earlier Monday, ShotSpotter alerted police to gunfire at 5647 South Throop. An officer working the local police district’s intelligence center was able to pull up a surveillance camera feed and confirm that a man was lying unresponsive at the ShotSpotter address, police radio transmissions show.

CPD officers arrived on the scene 62 seconds after being dispatched to the call, well before any 911 calls were received. They administered first aid until EMS arrived, but, unfortunately, the victim, believed to be 19 years old, died from a gunshot wound above his right eye.

Previous reporting

Critics of the ShotSpotter system insist that it is inaccurate and ineffective. Some say it is racist. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx claimed that ShotSpotter does not contribute significantly to firearms-related prosecutions in the city.

Our team reads hundreds of Chicago police reports every week. We can say with certainty that ShotSpotter alerts routinely result in the arrests of armed men—and they’re almost always men—after shots are fired in the city. This series includes cases we happened to come across during our work. It is not an exhaustive list of every ShotSpotter case filed.

Original reporting you’ll see nowhere else, paid for by our readers. Click here to support our work.


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