A 15-year-old boy was discovered unresponsive on the back porch of a West Side home overnight, later revealed to be a gunshot victim. Paramedics made this discovery while treating him at the scene.
First responders were unaware that the boy had been shot or that there had been any gunfire in the area, as no 911 calls reported shots fired, according to records. The block is no longer covered by ShotSpotter due to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s decision to terminate the city’s contract with the gunshot detection system in September 2024.
The Chicago Fire Department arrived at a residence in the 4600 block of West Jackson Boulevard shortly after 1 a.m. following a report of a person who was not awake or breathing. Dispatch records indicate that the individual who found the boy had already started CPR before emergency services arrived.
Approximately 15 minutes later, a Chicago Police officer accompanying the paramedics communicated over the radio that the fire department suspected the boy might have a gunshot wound. This suspicion was soon confirmed. In a media release, CPD reported that the 15-year-old had been shot in the head and was transported to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators discovered blood and a bullet on the third-floor porch where the boy was found, alongside a shell casing in a nearby lot, suggesting the shooting took place there, according to a CPD report. The exact timing of the shooting and the duration the victim remained undiscovered are still unknown.
Prior to the city ending its contract with ShotSpotter, the system’s acoustic sensors automatically alerted police to gunfire, independent of 911 calls. Without this technology, victims can remain unnoticed until found by someone.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), who represents the block where the boy was killed, was one of about a third of City Council members supporting Johnson’s decision to end the relationship with ShotSpotter. Ervin argued that the technology discouraged community engagement with police.
During discussions about ShotSpotter’s future, Ervin contended that the presence of the technology reduced the number of 911 calls about gunshots because residents relied on it.
“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 stated in 2024. “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.”
Unfortunately, for the 15-year-old found Wednesday morning, the removal of ShotSpotter did not prompt any 911 calls regarding the gunfire that claimed his life.
Since Johnson ended the city’s ShotSpotter contract following the 2024 Democratic National Convention, CWBChicago has identified 88 instances where gunshot victims seemingly faced prolonged waits for emergency services in areas formerly monitored by the system, due to lack of 911 reports or vague information preventing quick victim location.
These delays in response could be costing lives. Data from HeyJackass.com indicates that approximately 21% of shooting victims in Chicago this year succumbed to their injuries. Among those in delayed-response cases identified by CWBChicago, the fatality rate is nearly threefold higher at 60%.
As ShotSpotter was being phased out, Johnson pledged to find a superior gunfire detection system to safeguard every Chicago neighborhood. However, nearly two years later, despite receiving proposals from several companies, no replacement has been announced.
Johnson’s administration has largely withheld information from the City Council regarding proposals submitted after the city solicited bids for a replacement system. SoundThinking, ShotSpotter’s parent company, is known to have submitted a proposal. There is speculation that its technology performed best during independent testing by the city, potentially placing Johnson in a challenging position politically, as the company he criticized may offer the best solution.
The company’s president and CEO recently wrote an editorial in the Chicago Defender, revealing a new poll showing strong support among Black and Hispanic residents for gunshot detection technology. This aligns with a 2024 poll indicating 70% of all Chicagoans shared similar views.
“We … need first responders to know when shots have been fired on our blocks, so they can arrive in time to save lives,” company chief Ralph Clark wrote. “I have made these arguments because I believe them, and because the company I have led for fifteen years has built and deployed gunshot detection technology in cities across the country (and beyond) with the goal of helping first responders find gunshot victims faster, particularly in neighborhoods where gunfire too often goes unreported to 911.”
Clark noted that polling of Chicagoans from April 22 to April 28 showed 80% of Black voters and 78% of Hispanic voters support gunshot detection technology in their neighborhoods.
“The most skeptical voices come from neighborhoods that do not hear gunfire regularly,” he said. “The data suggests that the closer voters live to gun violence, the more strongly they want the tools that help first responders save lives.”
Most aldermen who supported Johnson’s move to eliminate ShotSpotter represent areas where the technology was never used. Ervin, however, stands as one of the few exceptions.
“The communities affected by gun violence have spoken,” Clark wrote in the Defender. “The question is whether their elected officials are listening, and whether the rest of us are going to make sure they hear.”
About this series
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, even though the vast majority of aldermen, many citizens, victims’ advocates, and his handpicked police superintendent requested 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 do not lead to the timely location of the victim.
