Two men were shot early Monday morning in Bronzeville after a black SUV pulled up on them in the 3900 block of South King Drive, leaving one man in critical condition and another shot in the chin. No one has been taken into custody.
According to WGN-TV, the two men were outside around 3:30 a.m. when the SUV approached and two gunmen inside opened fire on them. One of the men was shot in the body and self-transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he is listed in critical condition. The second victim, a 29-year-old man, was shot in the chin and also made his own way to a hospital, where he was reported in good condition. The station did not provide an age for the man who was more seriously wounded.
As of the station's report, no one was in custody for the shooting, and no further details on a motive or possible suspects have been released. Anyone with information has been asked to leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com.
A Stretch of South King Drive With a Troubled History
Monday's shooting adds to a string of violent incidents that have struck the same general stretch of South King Drive and Bronzeville in recent years, though none of those cases has been tied to this one. In July, a drive-by near Washington Park left four men shot, one fatally, after a passenger in a black vehicle opened fire into a crowd just after 9 p.m. in the 5100 block of South Calumet Avenue, per the Chicago Sun-Times. That shooting killed 44-year-old Cardell Howard, while a 54-year-old man was also critically wounded and two other men were treated and released in good condition.
Bronzeville has also seen shootings that wounded children. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that an 8-year-old girl was among three people shot on a Wednesday afternoon at Lake Meadows Shopping Center near East 35th Street and South King Drive, after a dark SUV approached the group and someone inside began firing. The girl was hit in the foot and taken to Comer Children's Hospital in good condition, while a 28-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man were also wounded but expected to recover. According to ABC7 Chicago, the same shooting wounded the girl in the foot, the 28-year-old woman in the knee, and the 24-year-old man in the arm and chest.
The 3900 block of South King Drive itself was the scene of another shooting in which someone fired at a CTA bus around 3:30 p.m., wounding a 37-year-old woman aboard in the leg, ABC7 Chicago reported separately. And the drive-by tactic striking Bronzeville is not new: back in 2019, a 27-year-old man was shot to death in the neighborhood when a black SUV pulled up alongside his vehicle and someone inside opened fire, according to the Sun-Times. He was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition before he died.
Citywide Gun Violence Trending Down, Crime Lab Finds
Despite the violence on South King Drive, Chicago as a whole has seen gunshot victimizations trend downward. An analysis from the University of Chicago Crime Lab found that more than 85% of police districts recorded fewer gunshot victimizations in 2025 than the year before. The same analysis found that just seven community areas, representing about 10% of the city's 77 community areas, accounted for 35% of the citywide drop in gun violence last year.
Those citywide gains have not erased the pattern of SUV-involved shootings along South King Drive and the surrounding Bronzeville blocks. With no suspects identified and no one in custody in Monday's shooting, investigators are relying on the public for leads, and anyone with information has been directed to the anonymous tip line.
