Labor Day weekend brings violence to Chicago, with nearly 60 people shot and 8 killed through Monday holiday
The Chicago Police Department released its official holiday weekend crime stats Tuesday morning, saying that 58 people were shot in 37 incidents across the city — including the eight homicides — from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday.
CPD has not yet made an arrest in any of the holiday weekend shooting incidents.
This year’s Labor Day violence in Chicago surpassed both that of 2024, when police reported 24 people shot and seven killed, and 2023, when police reported 37 people shot and seven killed.
The youngest person shot this holiday weekend was a 14-year-old boy, according to police, and some of the weekend shootings included multiple victims.
In one of those shootings, early Sunday morning in Pilsen, a seemingly innocent homeless man who lived on the streets for years and was well-known among locals as Pepe was killed when he was apparently caught in the crossfire.
“This violence, you don’t have to be involved in it,” Dan Buchanan, owner of anemoia, a creative studio and vintage shop in Pilsen, told WGN-TV. “It can just happen to anybody, someone standing on the corner and minding their own business.”
The violent weekend came as President Donald Trump’s administration prepares for an increased presence of federal agents and a potential mobilization of National Guard troops in Chicago.
Trump lashed out against Gov. JB Pritzker in a social media posting Saturday, warning him that he must straighten out Chicago’s crime problems quickly “or we’re coming.”
Trump issued another social media post early Tuesday morning addressing the Labor Day weekend violence in Chicago, saying, in part:
“At least 54 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, 8 people were killed. The last two weekends were similar. Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far. Pritzker needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet.”
Nonetheless, the latest data from CPD shows crime is down overall this year by 13%, while shooting incidents have dropped almost 40% compared to 2024’s numbers, though that doesn’t yet account for the Labor Day weekend violence.
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police also issued a statement during the holiday weekend addressing the violence and the overall crime rate in the city. It reads, in part:
“Crime is down. The murderous mindset is not. Just like that the numbers can explode. Until we have MORE cops, some federal help is welcome and appreciated!”
Here’s a closer look at some of the incidents reported around Chicago during the holiday weekend:
The most recent reported homicide, according to Chicago police, happened Sunday night in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the city’s Southwest Side.
Police say officers responded to a call of a person shot around 8:30 p.m. in the 2400 block of South Drake Avenue, where they found a man unresponsive on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to the body.
The Chicago Fire Department arrived on scene to treat the victim, but he was subsequently pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Police say nobody is in custody and detective are investigating.
Five people were shot early Monday morning during a gathering at Ellis Park in the Oakland neighborhood on the city’s South Side.
According to police, officers had already arrived to the area on a disturbance call around 1 a.m. when they heard gunshots nearby. They relocated to where the gunshots were and discovered multiple victims with gunshot wounds in the 3600 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue.
The shooting happened just steps from the University of Chicago Charter School. Social media posts indicated that a gathering, advertised as a reunion party, was taking place in Ellis Park. Residents said it appeared most of those attending the party were not from the neighborhood
According to police, CFD personnel arrived on scene to treat the victims and take them to area hospitals. Police say one of the victims was a 17-year-old boy, who was listed in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds to the body.
The other four victims ranged in age from 26 to 36, three men and one woman. According to police, three were listed in good condition and one was listed in fair condition.
Police say four firearms were recovered at the scene, and area detectives were questioning a person of interest as they continue to investigate the incident.
Bullet holes were still visible in vehicles along the 1900 block of West 17th Street in Pilsen, and some were even being driven with smashed glass after a shooting at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Residents say two victims, a 41-year-old man and a 43-year-old man, were at an outdoor party when someone approached them with a gun and shot them both in their legs.
Both were taken to area hospitals and reported to be in good condition.
A third victim, identified as 57-year-old Pedro Toledo Catalan, was located lying in the street with gunshot wounds and pronounced dead after being taken to an area hospital, police say. Locals tell WGN-TV he was a harmless homeless known to many as many in the area as Pepe.
It is believed Pepe was an innocent victim, caught in the crossfire.
A memorial for Pepe continues to grow in the area, and neighbors have launched a GoFundMe to help pay for his funeral services.
“You don’t come and intrude and just think that you’re going to be shooting out here, that’s not a good thing,” resident Dalia Radecki said. “I’m very upset, angry because that never should have happened to Pepe. He didn’t bother anybody.”
Police sources tell WGN-TV that detectives were able to use video evidence to determine there were multiple shooters. As the investigation unfolded, one person who was involved in the shooting reportedly told police he was a valid CCL holder.
Around 50 shell casings were recovered at the scene, indicating at least four different guns were fired.
Less than a half an hour before the shooting in Pilsen, four people were shot in the 2700 block of West Haddon Avenue in Humboldt Park.
According to a preliminary investigation by police, multiple unknown offenders in two unknown vehicles drove past a group of people standing outside at 1:15 a.m. Sunday.
Several people in the vehicle then took out guns and opened fire, hitting four of the people standing outside, police say.
The shooting victims ranged in age from 26 to 39, three of them women and one a man, according to police. All victims were taken to local hospitals in good condition.
Seven people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in the 3500 block of South State Street in the Bronzeville neighborhood shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday.
Police say someone in an unknown vehicle opened fire into a crowd of people standing outside. All victims were shot in their lower limbs and are expected to survive.
The shooting victims ranged in age from 28 to 31, five of them men and two of them women, according to police.
A 14-year-old boy is recovering from a gunshot wound to the hand and arm after being shot while walking in Garfield Park on Sunday evening.
According to police, the teen was in the 1500 block of South Christiana Avenue just after 5 p.m. when someone approached him, pulled out a gun and fired shots.
He was transported to an area hospital in good condition.
A woman was shot and killed during a verbal altercation in Altgeld Gardens on Sunday night.
Police say the shooting happened in front of a residence in the 13200 block of South Ellis Avenue just before 7:30 p.m.
The victim was struck in the chest and taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where she later died.
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