November to Date
Shot & Killed: 5
Shot & Wounded: 26
Total Shot: 31
Total Homicides: 5

Final October Totals
Shot & Killed: 29
Shot & Wounded: 202
Total Shot: 231
Total Homicides: 31

Year To Date
Shot & Killed: 384
Shot & Wounded: 2198
Total Shot: 2582
Total Homicides: 434

A Good Guy With A Gun

Self Defense ZoneIt’s often said that the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun (or a bunch of laws and signs of course).

“Carolina Cabrales says she was more confused than afraid when a masked robber grabbed her 13-year-old brother, put a gun to his head and dragged him inside the family-owned currency exchange in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood over the weekend.

The 17-year-old said she was near the counter and immediately recognized the voice of the robber as the neighbor from around the block who worked at the store when she was little. He had even nicknamed her Junior because she looked so much like her mother.

Then suddenly there was gunfire, and the robber, Reginald Gildersleeve, lay dead from several gunshots fired by a customer who had a concealed carry license and a valid gun owner’s card, according to police and witnesses.

Police said it was unlikely that the customer will face charges.”

Good. No further commentary necessary.

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Shot Placement

PlacementKilledWounded
head10680
chest92114
back47211
abdomen28132
side1638
face860
neck842
shoulder395
other61287
As of 10/29/15

Deadliest ‘hoods

NeighborhoodHomicidesWoundedTotal
Englewood26262288
Austin43183226
Garfield Park25155180
Humboldt Park1792109
North Lawndale2382105
Roseland2085105
New City148498
Chicago Lawn88694
Auburn Gresham108191
South Shore176986
Grand Crossing156479
Chatham185977
West Pullman105666
South Chicago144761
Woodlawn55459
All Others163714877
As of 11/1/15

Cause of Death

CauseHomicides%
Gunshot37888.3%
Stabbing255.8%
Asphyxiation81.9%
Trauma71.6%
Auto51.2%
Assault20.5%
Child Abuse20.5%
Arson10.2%
As of 11/1/15

Race of Victim/Assailant

RaceVictimAssailant
Black33177
Hispanic7119
White/Other168
Police-7
Unknown10-
As of 11/1/15
*Victim metrics only include homicides. Assailant metrics only account for those incidents where either an arrest has been made, part of a murder/suicide, self defense or if it involved the police.

Gender of Victim

GenderKilledWounded
Male3841934
Female43239
Other--
As of 11/1/15

Gallery

Warning: some of the images found within the Gallery may be graphic. View full Gallery

Total Shot

 20142015YoY %
Jan103152+47.5%
Feb7278+8.3%
Mar120211+75.8%
Apr263238-9.5%
May270322+19.2%
Jun280289+3.2%
Jul322320-0.6%
Aug296358+20.9%
Sep247361+46.1%
Oct245231-5.7%
As of 11/1/15

The Cost of Stupidity

*Costs assume the following:

  • $55,000: Average gunshot victim ER and hospital expenses.
  • $1000: Average CFD ambulance ride, only applicable to 80% of victims, rest self-transport.
  • $800: Homicide-related autopsies.
  • Doesn’t include hospice care or ongoing rehabilitation.

Cost estimates provided by Chicago Killings Cost $2.5 Billion.

Homicide Clearance Rate

Legal OutcomeHomicides
No Suspect Charged305
Suspect Charged100
Murder/Suicide7
Police-Involved7
Self-Defense4
The clearance rate is a calculation of Total Homicide Suspects Charged/(Total Homicides – Police involved – Self Defense – Murder/Suicides). Regardless of how many people are charged in relation to a single homicide, it’s only counted as one suspect for calculation purposes. The rate has nothing to do with criminal proceedings and convictions (or lack thereof).

Police-involved Shootings

YearKilledWounded
2015713
20141728
20131330
2012849
20112337
20101333
20091942
2009-2012 stats account for CPD incidents only. 2013-2015 may include other police forces within Chicago, such as the Illinois State Police, Cook County Sheriff or various 3 lettered federal agencies. Historical data pulled from Independent Police Review Authority.

Multi-victim Shootings

# of Victims# of Incidents# Killed
TOUCHDOWN!11
5 shot76
4 shot95
Hat Trick6827
2 shot27080
As of 11/1/15

Selfie-O-Meter

A “selfie” is an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound or occasionally referred to as a “negligent discharge”. Metric doesn’t include suicides or suicide attempts.

Death Investigations

A death investigation is the process whereby the CPD seeks to understand how and why a person died, typically under suspicious circumstances, but has NOT officially declared the incident a homicide.

No Hitters

Dates without a reported shooting or homicide: 1/7, 1/12, 1/15, 2/5, 2/18, 2/24 and 2/28.

Yearly Murder Trend (1957-2014)

MayorTermHomicides
Richard J. Daley1955-197610,910
Michael Bilandic1976-19792,408
Jane Byrne1979-19833,202
Harold Washington1983-19873,295
Eugene Sawyer1987-1989978
Richard M. Daley1989-201114,653
Rahm Emanuel2011-1,931

Merchandise

Many thanks to everyone who picked up a shirt, some stickers or hit the tip jar. Your patronage is greatly appreciated. We’re currently sold out of everything.

Police Scanner Frequencies

If you’re interested in listening to Chicago mayhem, invest in a quality scanner or a cheaper two-way radio and tune in to the frequencies below:

If you’re not local, head over to either the Apple or Google app store and download a scanner app or check out Broadcastify’s Live Audio Feeds.

Freq.CPD Dist.Main 'hoods
460.1250CW 1Citywide
460.1750CW 2Citywide
460.15001 & 18Loop, Mag Mile, Gold Coast
460.50002 & 21Hyde Park, Grand Boulevard
460.07503Woodlawn, South Shore
460.20004 & 6Auburn Gresham, Chatham
460.02505 & 22Roseland, West Pullman
460.40007 & 8Englewood, Chicago Lawn
460.450012 & 14Near West Side, New City
460.100010 & 11Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, N. Lawndale
460.425015 & 25Austin, Belmot-Cragin
460.050019Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Uptown
460.375020 & 24Edgewater, Rogers Park
Chicago FireCitywide

*Source Data & Editor’s Note

We compile our own dataset using the following sources: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-TimesHomicide Watch Chicago, DNAInfo Chicago, Chicago Redeye Homicide Tracker(no longer updated), NBC5 Chicago, City of Chicago Data Portal and CPD CLEARMAP.

Community areas and neighborhoods are determined by the Chicago Tribune’s Boundaries App.

Editor’s note: All murders are homicides, but not all homicides are murders. We count homicides, whereas the CPD counts murders. A homicide, regardless of type or by whom, within the city limits of Chicago counts towards our total metric. CPD-involved, ISP-involved and justifiable homicides all count. Reckless homicides may count if the Medical Examiner rules that the cause of death was a homicide. Suicides do not count. Additional definitions can be found on the Glossary page.