With ShotSpotter removed, victim lay dead or dying for 2 hours in Brighton Park

A man was found fatally shot near a parked pickup truck in Brighton Park early Thursday, and indications are he may have been there for more than two hours before being discovered by a passerby.

The shooting occurred in the 3100 block of West 39th Place, an area that was monitored around the clock by the city’s ShotSpotter gunfire detection network until Mayor Brandon Johnson ended the program in September 2024, despite opposition from the police superintendent and a City Council supermajority.

Chicago police said officers responded to a call of a person down at approximately 4:15 a.m. and found the man, who remained a “John Doe” as of midmorning, lying between a pickup truck and some scaffolding. He had suffered gunshot wounds to the head and body and was pronounced dead at the scene.

An officer at the scene reported that 29 shell casings were found nearby. Police dispatchers said they received two calls of shots fired in the area around 2:27 a.m., more than two hours before the victim was discovered.

Local Alderman Julia Ramirez was among roughly one-third of City Council members who supported Johnson’s decision to end the ShotSpotter contract. Most aldermen representing wards equipped with the technology voted to keep it in place.

Ramirez has largely avoided public discussion of the issue. The only known reference to ShotSpotter on her Facebook page came in November 2023, when officers responding to a ShotSpotter alert found three men fatally shot in the same block of West 39th Place where Thursday’s victim was discovered.

Since Johnson allowed the ShotSpotter contract to expire, CWB Chicago has identified 81 shooting victims who experienced significantly delayed emergency responses because gunfire was not reported or reports lacked enough detail for responders to locate victims. Citywide, about 24% of this year’s shooting victims have died, but among those who experienced delayed assistance due to a lack of ShotSpotter, the fatality rate rises to 58%.

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.