A 70-year-old woman was shot to death inside a residence in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, after police say she got into an argument with a 63-year-old man who then opened fire. The man was arrested at the scene, and charges against him were still pending as of Wednesday night.
According to Chicago Sun-Times, the shooting happened inside a home in the 1900 block of West 83rd Street at 3:18 p.m. Police said the unidentified man was arguing with the woman before he allegedly shot her in the neck and chest. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and Chicago police have said charges are pending against the man accused of fatally shooting her.
Neither Victim Nor Suspect Publicly Identified
As of Wednesday night, authorities had not released the names of either the woman or the 63-year-old man taken into custody. The same report notes the circumstances of the argument and what led to the shooting remain under investigation, with no further details disclosed by police.
The killing adds to a year in which Chicago's overall violence numbers have largely trended downward, even as individual tragedies like this one continue to shake specific blocks and families. Citywide, the Chicago Police Department recorded just 39 homicides in August 2026, the fewest for that month since 2011, according to WTTW News. That brought the city's homicide total through the end of August to 289, just two more than the same point in 2025.
Citywide Violence Trends Mostly Downward
The station's report also found that shooting incidents fell by nearly 20% in August compared with a year earlier, with 141 recorded, while the number of people shot dropped almost 18% to 198. Through the first eight months of 2026, 1,264 people had been shot in Chicago, about 1% fewer than over the same stretch in 2025. Police also recovered 1,049 firearms in August alone and 7,346 since the start of the year, per the same account, while robberies were down 23% year-to-date and burglaries had fallen 11%.
A separate tracker kept by the Chicago Tribune counted 319 homicide victims citywide through September 25, matching the number recorded over the same period in 2025. The Tribune's data show this year's victims have often been young, Black and male, and that most died from gunshot wounds. The Austin neighborhood recorded the most homicides of any Chicago community this year, with 28 through late September.
July Shooting in Auburn Gresham
In July, a shooting in the 7600 block of South Halsted Street left a 53-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man dead and two other victims critically injured, the Tribune reported. Police said four gunmen approached the four victims and opened fire before fleeing on foot into a nearby alley.
No further updates on the condition or identity of either party in Wednesday's shooting had been released as of this writing. Hoodline will update this story as charges are formally filed and additional details emerge from Chicago police.
