An Uber driver was shot in the thigh during an attempted robbery in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood early Sunday, and the woman riding in his car told dispatchers she was then robbed herself as she fled the scene. The 49-year-old driver was found lying in the street and taken to the hospital in good condition, while police say detectives are still working to identify who pulled the trigger.
Chicago police responded to the 6800 block of South Cornell Avenue shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday, according to CWB Chicago, which reported the shooting happened during an attempted robbery, per a preliminary police report. A 911 caller reported hearing a gunshot and seeing a man on the ground as two people ran away, the outlet's account states. CBS News Chicago reported that officers found the 49-year-old man at 1:06 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the thigh and that he was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.
A Passenger's Account, Caught on Dispatch Audio
Per dispatch audio reviewed by the outlet, a woman who had been riding in the Uber told dispatchers she had shared the ride with a 16-year-old boy who pulled a gun on the driver. She said she fled the vehicle once the gun was drawn, the same dispatch audio indicates. CWB Chicago's report adds that as she ran from the scene, two armed men robbed her of a bag and work-related items. She ultimately declined to identify herself or file a police report, per the same account.
A security officer separately told authorities that a man and a woman ran from the area, according to the outlet's reporting. Chicago police said detectives are investigating the shooting, and no arrests had been announced as of the report.
South Shore's Recent History With Rideshare Robberies
Sunday's shooting adds to a string of robberies that have rattled South Shore and its rideshare drivers in recent years. In 2024, police told CWB Chicago that eight rideshare drivers had been targeted on the 6700 to 6900 blocks of South Crandon Avenue, with two would-be passengers in that series asking to borrow a driver's phone before fleeing with it, and a gun displayed in two of the reported incidents.
CBS News Chicago also reported that police issued a community alert over three armed robberies on the 6700 block of South Constance Avenue, in which two men and a woman approached victims on foot and demanded property at gunpoint, including a digital-wallet transfer.
The pattern of drivers being targeted by the passengers they pick up isn't new to Chicago. A 2020 CWB Chicago report found that carjackings citywide jumped to 279 between November 1 and December 15 that year, compared with 75 over the same stretch in 2019, and described four ride-service drivers carjacked on consecutive nights that December after dropping passengers on South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
