A 23-year-old man is facing attempted first-degree murder charges after police say he opened fire on a 45-year-old man from inside a green truck on Chicago's West Side last November, leaving the victim in critical condition. Juan Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday and now faces a detention hearing on Thursday as the case moves through court.
Police said Rodriguez was charged following his arrest with attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated battery for discharging a firearm, causing great bodily harm and using a deadly weapon, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The shooting happened on Nov. 28, 2025, when the victim was standing on the sidewalk in the 700 block of North Leamington Avenue in the Austin neighborhood, per the same report.
According to the Sun-Times, Rodriguez allegedly shot the man from inside a green truck. The wounded man was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, the outlet reported. Rodriguez is now set to appear in court Thursday for a detention hearing, the report notes.
A Pattern of Violence in Central and Southeastern Austin
The shooting unfolded in a part of the city where gun violence has historically clustered. Homicide patterns tracked from 2016 through 2025 show violence concentrated in central Austin and along its eastern boundary with Garfield Park, according to the Chicago Public Safety DataHub. By contrast, Austin's western boundary with suburban Oak Park and its northern boundary with Belmont Cragin have usually been quieter, the DataHub reports.
The DataHub also notes that city- and county-owned vacant buildings in Austin are concentrated in the southeastern quadrant of the neighborhood, the same area where homicides are most frequent. Austin itself is the third-largest of Chicago's community areas by both population and area, per the DataHub's analysis.
Citywide Shootings Fell Sharply Even as Austin Saw Violence
The Leamington Avenue shooting came during a year when Chicago's overall violence numbers were falling. The city recorded 416 murders in 2025, its lowest annual total since 1965, a 29 percent decrease from the prior year, according to Block Club Chicago. Shootings dropped by roughly 35 percent compared to 2024 and nearly 60 percent compared to 2021, the outlet reported.
Block Club Chicago also found that seven community areas, including Austin, North Lawndale, West Englewood and West Pullman, accounted for 35 percent of the citywide decline in gun violence in 2025. Robberies fell to about 6,100 citywide, almost 50 percent below the 2023 peak, while carjackings dropped by half from 2024 to 2025, per the outlet's reporting. Fatal domestic shootings, however, rose by 50 percent that same year, Block Club Chicago noted.
A Separate Shooting on the Same Block
The 700 block of North Leamington Avenue has seen gun violence beyond the November case. In a separate incident, two men were shot, one fatally, on a Friday evening on the city's West Side after officers responded to a gunshot detection technology alert around 4:55 p.m. in the same block, according to ABC7 Chicago.
In that case, a 49-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was later pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital after initially being listed in critical condition, ABC7 reported. A 21-year-old man wounded in the leg was also taken to Mt. Sinai and was reported in fair condition. No one was in custody as police continued investigating that shooting, according to the station's report.
