A 32-year-old man is facing attempted murder charges after Chicago police say he forced his way into a Gresham home early Tuesday and shot a 17-year-old boy in the back. A 12-year-old was also inside the house at the time but was not hurt, and the suspect was taken into custody several hours later.
Dennis Cain was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and possessing a weapon as a felon, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Police said Cain, who lives in the 8600 block of South Muskegon Avenue, allegedly entered a home in the 7700 block of South Lowe Avenue around 12:50 a.m. Tuesday and shot the teen in the back.
The 12-year-old who was also in the home at the time was not injured, per the same report. Officers arrested Cain several hours after the shooting, and he was expected to appear in court Friday to face the charges.
A Stretch of Lowe Avenue With a Troubled Recent History
Tuesday's shooting is not the only recent act of gun violence reported on South Lowe Avenue in Gresham. In a separate incident, ABC7 Chicago reported that a 17-year-old girl was shot inside a home in the 7600 block of South Lowe Avenue, struck by gunfire from outside the residence at about 3:33 p.m. She was initially listed in fair condition at an area hospital, and the outlet reported that nobody was in custody in that case.
Gresham has also seen fatal violence involving minors in recent months. ABC7 reported that a 14-year-old boy was fatally shot in the 8000 block of South Carpenter Street on a Thursday night, with officers responding just after 11:30 p.m. to find him shot multiple times before he was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Chicago police told the station that Area Two detectives were investigating and that no arrests had been made in that case.
Citywide Shootings Have Fallen, But Gresham Still Leads in Killings
The violence in Gresham comes even as Chicago's overall murder and shooting numbers have continued to decline. As of Dec. 28, the Gresham police district had recorded 43 murders, a 34% drop from 2024 but still tied for the most of any district that year, according to WBEZ. Shootings in the district had also fallen 36% over the same period, the station reported.
Citywide, Chicago recorded 416 murders last year, down from 587 in 2024 and the lowest total since 1965, according to police data cited by WBEZ. The University of Chicago Crime Lab separately found that more than 85% of Chicago police districts saw fewer gunshot victimizations in 2025 compared with the year before, through December 12, with 1,461 non-fatal shooting victims recorded citywide as of that date, per the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
Gresham's history of shootings involving teenagers stretches back years. In September 2022, a 17-year-old boy was critically wounded in the 8400 block of South Parnell Avenue, shot in the abdomen and leg, according to a Sun-Times report at the time that described the incident as the fourth shooting to wound a minor on the South Side in less than six hours.
