A homeless man who unintentionally shot himself waited about 15 minutes for help to arrive because nobody called 911 to report the gunshot that injured him on Tuesday morning. He is the second gunshot victim this week who could have received a more timely emergency response had Mayor Brandon Johnson. Both of those shootingss occurred in the 28th Ward, represented by Ald. Jason Ervin, who supported Johnson’s decision.

Chicago police and fire personnel responded to a viaduct in the 2600 block of West Congress to assist the man around 5:30 a.m. The call initially came in as a “man down,” lying on the ground, but a fire department crew quickly determined that he had been shot in the right knee.

CPD later determined that the 63-year-old had unintentionally shot himself around 5:15 a.m.. Cops found a shell casing inside a shoe that was inside his tent, according to police radio traffic.

Ervin, the local alderman, was in the 33% City Council minority that agreed with Johnson’s decision to get rid of ShotSpotter last September.

Incredibly, Ervin blamed ShotSpotter for people’s reticence to call 911 about gunfire, an argument that got rid of the one device that could help shooting victims when those 911 calls aren’t made.

“We now have fewer people calling 911. We’ve had less people come to CAPS meetings when we need them to participate. And guess where it’s happening at? On the South and West sides of Chicago,” Ervin said last year. “We’ve got to start playing chess instead of checkers because this type of technology continues to drive community away from what needs to happen and that is engagement with the police department.”

Not surprisiingly, people still don’t call 911 about gunfire. The difference now is that gunshot victims lie around on the ground for extended periods of time, waiting for somebody to make the call. Had Ervin and Johnson not disconnected ShotSpotter, the gunshot detection devices could notify police on behalf of the victims.

Tuesday’s victim is the second person with a gunshot wound found lying in Ervin’s ward this week.

Early Monday morning, a 65-year-old man was found yelling and waving his hand for help in the 100 block of South Hamlin. He, too, had been shot.

In addition to two-thirds of the City Council, the city’s police superintendent and, according to a poll, 70% of Chicago residents wanted Johnson to retain ShotSpotter services.

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.  Mayor Brandon Johnson stubbornly refused to reconsider his decision to dismantle ShotSpotter, despite the vast majority of aldermen, many citizens, victim advocates, and his handpicked police superintendent requesting that it remain in place.

This reporting series, named “Brandon’s Bodies,” seeks to document cases of shooting victims and police investigations that could have benefited from gunshot detection technology.

The general criteria for inclusion are a gunshot victim found outside in a location previously served by ShotSpotter with either (1) no accompanying 911 calls about gunfire or (2) calls about gunfire in a general area that did not lead to the timely location of the victim.