A 13-year-old boy was shot in the right arm early Sunday morning in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood, and police have not said whether anyone has been identified as a suspect. He was taken to a hospital and is expected to be okay, but the shooting involved a young victim on the city's Southwest Side.
Chicago police officers responded to the 5200 block of South Winchester Avenue around 2:27 a.m., according to FOX 32 Chicago. The boy was shot in his right arm and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition. Area detectives are investigating the shooting, though police did not say whether any arrests had been made or suspects identified, and they released no other details, including a description of the gunman.
A Neighborhood Already on Edge
Sunday's shooting is not an isolated incident for Back of the Yards. Just months earlier, a 30-year-old man was shot in the head and shoulder inside his own home in the 4600 block of South Winchester, about six address blocks from Sunday's scene, according to CBS News Chicago. That attack happened around 4:50 a.m., and the station reported no other injuries and no one in custody at the time.
An even more violent episode struck the same neighborhood in June 2026, when gunmen fired more than 50 rounds at a group in the 5100 block of South Wood Street, killing two people and injuring five others, as reported by CWB Chicago. That shooting, which happened around 12:26 a.m., left a 23-year-old woman in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, while four other victims were listed in fair or good condition. Cook County Crime Stoppers offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the shooters' arrest.
Young Victims Across the City
Sunday's shooting also echoes a case just over a week earlier on the city's North Side, where a 14-year-old boy was shot in the neck while standing on a sidewalk in the 6300 block of North Rockwell Street in West Ridge. The teen was hospitalized in critical condition at Lurie Children's Hospital, and Area 3 detectives were investigating, per the Chicago Sun-Times.
Notably, West Ridge is not typically considered a shooting hotspot. The Sun-Times reported that in 2025, the neighborhood ranked 58th among the city's 77 community areas for its population-adjusted shooting rate, logging 13 shootings per 100,000 residents compared with a citywide average of 42. More recent data from this year, last updated in August, showed West Ridge had climbed to 48th for shootings citywide.
Citywide Numbers Tell a Mixed Story
Zooming out, Chicago's overall violent crime picture for 2026 is mixed. Through the end of June, the city recorded 210 homicides, nearly 6% more than during the same period in 2025, according to WTTW News. Shootings were also up, with 686 recorded through June and 858 total shooting victims, a 4% increase year-over-year. June alone accounted for 139 shootings and 43 homicides.
Not every category moved in the same direction. The same WTTW report found robberies down 27%, armed robberies down 32%, carjackings down 25% and burglaries down 12% compared with the prior year. Violent crime on CTA trains and buses fell 28%, while property crime on transit dropped 32%. Police also recovered 5,149 firearms citywide from the start of the year through June, including 857 in June alone.
For now, the circumstances behind Sunday's shooting in Back of the Yards remain unclear. Police have not released information about a motive, the type of firearm used, or any suspects, and the investigation remains open.
