Two men were shot and killed Thursday afternoon in a quiet Northwest Side neighborhood, bringing a rare burst of violence to a block in the Dunning community area that has been largely untouched by violent crime for decades, according to Chicago police.
The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. in the 7800 block of West Cahill Terrace, a residential stretch so historically peaceful that city records show fewer than 130 crimes logged there over the past 25 years, with no recorded incidents whatsoever since December 27.
But that all changed Thursday, a sunny June afternoon, as witnesses flooded 911 with calls of shots fired and requests for police and ambulances. Accounts of how many gunmen were involved varied: some witnesses reported seeing one shooter, others believed there were two, and still others thought there may have been three.
Police said the two victims were found in the rear of a residence: a 20-year-old man sustained gunshot wounds to his chest, head, back, and right shoulder and was transported to Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition, where he was later pronounced dead and a man whose age was not immediately confirmed but appeared to be around 21. He was shot in the back, neck, and left leg. He was also taken to Lutheran General in critical condition and was later pronounced dead.
While CPD’s statement said the men were found “in the rear of a residence,” and that is technically true, video provided to CWB Chicago shows the men were lying directly next to Forest Preserve Drive, a four-lane road, in full view of people in passing vehicles.
Officers recovered rifle casings and a firearm at the scene. Police fielded multiple descriptions of individuals seen running from the area after the shooting, making it unclear which, if any, were suspects. But one witness told police a Hispanic man wearing a brown hoodie was seen running west on Addison Street with a gun in his hand shortly after the shooting.
Investigators were also told that one of the Jefferson Park District’s “Top 10” subjects, a list used to keep patrol officers aware of individuals suspected of driving serious crime in the district, lives near the scene. There was no immediate information suggesting that the person was involved in or targeted by the shooting.
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