A 34-year-old man was fatally shot late Saturday while sitting inside a parked gray SUV in Englewood, after an unidentified gunman walked up on foot and opened fire before running off. The shooting happened around 9:16 p.m. in the 6200 block of South May Street, according to Chicago police.
The man suffered gunshot wounds to the shoulder and abdomen, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. He was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition and later pronounced dead there. The gunman fired multiple shots before fleeing in an unknown direction, and no description of the shooter has been released.
Area 1 detectives are investigating the shooting, according to the same report, but as of now there is no word on a motive or a suspect in custody. The stretch of May Street where the man was killed falls within the boundaries of the Chicago Police Department's 7th District, which polices Englewood and West Englewood out of a station on West 63rd Street that opened in 2009.
Rushed to the South Side's Only Level 1 Trauma Center
The victim's trip to the University of Chicago Medical Center reflects a now-routine path for gunshot victims on the South Side. The hospital's Level 1 Adult Trauma Center opened in May 2018, ending a 30-year gap in adult trauma care across the region, according to UChicago Medicine.
A March 2026 study published in JAMA Surgery by UChicago Medicine researchers, who examined more than 45,000 firearm incidents across Chicago between 2010 and 2024, found that the trauma center's opening cut travel times for South Side gunshot victims by nearly 10 minutes and was associated with a 3.9% reduction in firearm mortality in its service area.
A Familiar Stretch of May Street
This is not the first deadly shooting along this corridor. In March, a 45-year-old man was shot and killed inside his home on the nearby 5700 block of South May Street when an unknown shooter opened fire from a passing car, Hoodline previously reported. No arrests were made in that case either.
Vehicle-involved gun violence has also surfaced elsewhere in Englewood this month. On August 18, shooters in a sedan fired into a white SUV on West 70th Street, wounding an 11-year-old boy and two men, one of whom was left in critical condition, according to CBS Chicago as reported by Hoodline.
Citywide Numbers Improve, but Local Fear Persists
The shooting comes even as Chicago's overall homicide totals sit near historic lows. The city recorded 37 homicides in July, the lowest total for any single July since at least 1970 and an 18% drop from July 2025, per WTTW News. Through the first seven months of the year, the city has logged 250 homicides, only slightly more than the 244 recorded over the same period in 2025, a year that closed with the city's lowest annual homicide total in six decades.
Yet public perception hasn't caught up with the statistics. A July survey by NORC at the University of Chicago found that 44% of residents believed violent crime was rising in 2026, compared with just 18% who thought it had fallen, WTTW News reported. Researchers linked the disconnect partly to heavy exposure to violent crime content on social media.
If detectives identify and arrest a suspect, Illinois law imposes steep penalties for first-degree murder. A conviction under 720 ILCS 5/9-1 carries a mandatory 20-to-60-year prison term, with enhancements of 15 years to natural life when a firearm is personally discharged during the crime, according to FindLaw. Illinois also requires that offenders convicted of first-degree murder serve their entire sentence under truth-in-sentencing guidelines.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Chicago Police Area 1 Detectives, who oversee South Side homicide investigations including those in Englewood, through CPDTIP.com or by calling (312) 747-8380.
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