A woman was found fatally shot in an alley on Chicago’s Far South Side on Sunday morning, an incident that has immediately reignited the intense debate over the city’s recent deactivation of the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system.
The unidentified woman was discovered by a passerby around 10:18 a.m. in an alley behind the 11000 block of South Mackinaw Avenue. Chicago police confirmed the victim had been shot twice in the head.
No 911 Calls, No ShotSpotter Alert
Police noted that no one called 911 to report the gunfire, leaving investigators unsure exactly how long the victim’s body had been in the alley before the discovery.
The location where the homicide occurred was once covered by the city’s ShotSpotter network, a system that identified suspected gunfire locations down to specific addresses and alleys.
However, the city ended its contract with the gunfire detection company on September 23, 2024, at the direction of Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The technology was removed from 12 of the city’s most violence-impacted neighborhoods, including this area of the 10th Ward.
During radio traffic at the scene, the lack of the system was noted by police: after a dispatcher asked if officers saw any shell casings, the conversation ended with the dispatcher stating, “Ah. And we don’t have a ShotSpotter.” The system’s location data typically helped officers find crucial evidence like shell casings.
Political Pushback
The area is represented by Alderman Peter Chico, a former police officer who was among the majority of the City Council that urged the administration to keep ShotSpotter.
During the debate last year, Chico emphasized the system’s role in speeding up response times.
“Many times, I go to the scenes where people were shot, and I talk to the families,” Chico said at the time, arguing that minutes saved by the system could be critical.
Despite support from figures like Chico, Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, and a significant portion of Chicago residents, the Johnson administration allowed the contract for the technology to lapse.
Chicago Police have not released additional details about the Sunday morning shooting as the homicide investigation continues.
