Three men were standing at a gas station in Chicago's Garfield Park neighborhood Saturday night when a white SUV pulled in and three people jumped out shooting, leaving one man dead and two others wounded. The gunfire erupted around 10 p.m. in the 400 block of South Kostner Avenue, turning a routine stop at the pumps into a crime scene within seconds.
According to ABC7 Chicago, the three suspects got out of the SUV and started firing at the group before fleeing in the same vehicle. A 30-year-old man was shot in the neck and later died at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Chicago police said. One of the two surviving victims, a 28-year-old man, was rushed to Mt. Sinai in critical condition with gunshot wounds, while another 28-year-old man was shot in the knee and taken to Stroger Hospital, where he is expected to recover.
Police said no other information was available following the shooting, leaving open questions about what prompted the attack and who was behind it.
A Stretch of Kostner Avenue With a Violent History
This is not the first time gunfire has erupted at a gas station on this same block. In 2021, a 39-year-old man was fatally shot inside his own car at a gas station in the 400 block of South Kostner Avenue, a case that led to the arrest of 24-year-old Isaiah Hudson, who was charged with first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and being an armed habitual criminal, according to WTTW News.
Later that same year, on October 31, 2021, two men standing in that identical block of South Kostner Avenue were shot when a white-colored vehicle pulled up and someone inside opened fire, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. One of those victims, 56-year-old Keith Melton-McKinney, was struck in the head and left shoulder and died at Mt. Sinai Hospital, the same hospital where Saturday's victim was pronounced dead.
A Neighborhood That Hasn't Seen the Citywide Decline
Garfield Park's recent history includes other multi-victim shootings beyond this latest one. In April, a shooting at Pulaski Road and Maypole Avenue killed three people and critically wounded a fourth after a car rolled up on a group standing in the 4000 block of West Maypole Avenue and two people opened fire, according to Block Club Chicago. Cook County Crime Stoppers offered up to $10,000 for information in that case.
Then in September, three people were shot and seriously hurt in West Garfield Park on a Sunday morning after two people exited a dark-colored sedan in the 600 block of South Independence Boulevard and started firing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. A 25-year-old victim was shot in the chest and listed in critical condition, while a 30-year-old man was shot in the body and was in serious condition.
The pattern reflects a broader divide in how gun violence receded across Chicago in 2025. While shootings citywide declined by 36 percent that year, West Garfield Park saw only a 4.5 percent reduction over the same period, according to an analysis by The Trace. The neighborhood has still cut gun violence by 62 percent since September 2021, but it remains the Chicago community area with the highest shooting rate, at 39 per 10,000 residents, per the same analysis.
Citywide Homicide Numbers Through Mid-October
Saturday's killing adds to a 2026 homicide count that has run both ahead of and behind prior years depending on the stretch measured. Chicago had recorded 341 homicide victims through October 15, according to the Chicago Tribune's homicide tracker, which is six fewer than the comparable period in 2025. Most of this year's homicide victims citywide died from gunshot wounds, the tracker shows.
Earlier in the year, the trend ran in the opposite direction. Chicago logged 130 homicides and 421 shootings in the first four months of 2026, increases of roughly 8 percent and 5 percent over the same period in 2025, according to WTTW News. April alone saw 32 homicides, a 39 percent jump over the 23 recorded in April 2025, the outlet reported.
No arrests had been announced in Saturday's shooting as of the initial report, and police have not released information about a motive or the suspects' identities.
