A 64-year-old man was shot in the side Friday evening after he refused to hand over his property to two men who confronted him inside a Streeterville parking garage, according to Chicago police. The shooting was reported around 6:30 p.m. in the 400 block of East Illinois Street near North McClurg Court. The suspects fled the scene, and the victim was taken to an area hospital, where he was reported to be in good condition.
According to NBC 5 Chicago, the victim was approached by two men while inside the garage, and one of them demanded his belongings. When he refused, one of the suspects opened fire before both men ran off. Detectives are investigating the shooting, and authorities said an investigation remains underway, though no further details about the victim, the suspects, or any arrests have been released.
Part of a Broader Pattern Downtown
The Streeterville shooting comes amid a string of armed robberies that Chicago police have flagged across downtown neighborhoods in recent months. Police issued an alert about armed robberies striking Streeterville and the Near North neighborhood, warning that high-end jewelry, purses and watches were being taken at gunpoint from people walking to their cars, as reported by ABC7 Chicago. That outlet noted the robbery crews involved were made up of three to four suspects wearing dark clothing and masks, and listed earlier incidents in March at East Chicago, West Walton and East Chestnut.
A separate wave of robberies struck River North and Streeterville in the early hours of a Saturday in June, per CWBChicago. In one case from that report, a 31-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint around 2:05 a.m. in the 200 block of East Ohio Street after two armed men approached his vehicle; a second victim near Clark and Ohio streets had an iPhone and silver chain taken by two armed, masked men around 4 a.m. Authorities described the pattern as the work of a kidnapping and robbery crew that had been active in downtown nightlife areas and near Wrigley Field since at least April 5, with at least 15 known victims, though an earlier CWBChicago report from May put the number of victims since April 5 at a minimum of 12. The crew reportedly takes phones and other property by force or at gunpoint, then uses the stolen devices for unauthorized financial transactions.
Other Recent Violence Downtown
Other shootings tied to robberies have rattled downtown Chicago this year. A 32-year-old man was critically injured after being shot early one Sunday during a robbery in River North, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. That victim was walking in the 400 block of North LaSalle Street around 2:15 a.m. when a white SUV pulled up and a man inside demanded his property before opening fire. In another incident downtown, six suspects robbed a 30-year-old man at gunpoint early one Friday, according to ABC7's reporting.
The Streeterville garage attack also echoes a 2018 case in the same neighborhood, when a 20-year-old man was critically wounded after being shot on the fifth floor of a parking garage in the 200 block of East Illinois Street, per the Sun-Times. It is not established whether Friday's shooting is connected to the broader robbery-crew pattern described in separate police reports this year.
Citywide Crime Trends Offer Mixed Signal
Zooming out, citywide data paints a complicated picture for Chicago in 2026. The Council on Criminal Justice found that Chicago's reported robbery rate was 28% lower in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2025, and the reported gun assault rate was 8% lower over that span. The same analysis found that the city's reported homicide rate was 3% higher in the first half of 2026, even as 10 of the 13 offenses tracked by the group declined during that period.
For now, the circumstances of Friday's shooting near McClurg Court remain under investigation, with detectives working to identify the suspects who fled after the confrontation. No information about the victim's identity or any arrests has been released.
