The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has determined that a man found dead outside an abandoned school in Gresham earlier this year died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A laborer working at the shuttered Access at Perspectives Calumet school, 8131 South May, found the 25-year-old at the bottom of a stairwell, covered with trash, on March 8.

Chicago police launched a death investigation pending the medical examiner’s results, which were recently finalized.

Officials don’t know how long the man’s body went undiscovered, however he was reported missing on February 26, ten days before his body was discovered. The area was included in the city’s ShotSpotter coverage area until Mayor Brandon Johnson disconnected the system last September.

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.

Editor’s note: The case previously included as #13 on this list has been removed as of May 21, 2025, because the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office investigation determined the individual died by suicide in a fall from height.