A 62-year-old Chicago man is facing a felony count of attempted first-degree murder after police say he pulled a gun during an argument and opened fire on a 48-year-old man in Little Village last month. Tommie Griffin was taken into custody a day after the September 27 shooting and now also faces a felony count of aggravated battery with the discharge of a firearm.
What Police Say Happened
According to police, Griffin and the victim got into an argument on September 27 that escalated when Griffin allegedly pulled out a gun and opened fire toward the man, as first reported by WGN-TV. The 48-year-old victim suffered a gunshot wound to his right hand and was hospitalized in good condition, the station reports. Authorities say Griffin fled the scene afterward, but investigators caught up with him in Little Valley the next day and took him into custody.
Chicago police say Griffin faces one felony count of attempted first-degree murder and one felony count of aggravated battery with a discharge of a firearm, according to the Chicago Police Department. Griffin was scheduled to appear at a detention hearing Wednesday in court. Police have not released details on the specific cause of the argument or whether Griffin and the victim knew each other beforehand.
What Griffin Could Face in Court
Because Illinois eliminated cash bail under the Pretrial Fairness Act, Griffin is not facing a monetary bond but rather a judicial detention hearing. At the hearing, Cook County prosecutors must establish by clear and convincing evidence that Griffin committed the offense, that he poses a specific safety threat, and that no release conditions could mitigate that threat, according to a legal explainer from the law offices of W. Scott Hanken, Attorney at Law.
A Neighborhood Watching Gun Violence Trends
The shooting unfolded in Chicago Police Department's 10th District, known as Ogden, which covers both Little Village and North Lawndale. The district recorded 26 homicides in 2025, a 50 percent drop from the 52 homicides logged there in 2024, according to Austin Weekly News.
Little Village, Chicago's South Lawndale community area, is home to 71,000 residents, over 80 percent of whom identify as Hispanic or Latino, with a commercial corridor along West 26th Street that generates nearly $900 million in annual revenue, according to an ArcGIS StoryMaps profile of the neighborhood known as La Villita. Major violent crime investigations in the area are handled by CPD's Area 4 Detective Division, headquartered at 3151 West Harrison Street, which was restored in 2020 specifically to decentralize West Side violent crime investigations and improve case clearance rates.
This is not the only recent incident in which an altercation in Little Village turned violent. Earlier this month, a separate shooting near 24th Street and Rockwell Street left a man wounded in the shoulder and leg. Hoodline previously covered that case in Little Village Shooting Near 24th and Rockwell Wounds Man.
