Tipsheet

Here's Another Victim of Mayor Brandon Johnson's War on ShotSpotter

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  February 19, 2026 8:30 AM

Back in November, we reported how dozens of innocent Chicagoans have been shot and killed thanks to Mayor Brandon Johnson's decision to remove Shotspotter from his city. At the time, a total of 63 people had died under circumstances that may have been different had Shotspotter been active. The youngest victim was a 13-year-old Black male shot on March 17, 2025. The oldest was a 66-year-old and one of the few White males on the list.

Now the number of dead has climbed, and the 77th victim was discovered this week. This time, the victim was a woman.

Here's more:

A woman was found shot to death on the side of a gravel road on Chicago’s Far South Side Tuesday afternoon, her body discovered along a remote, wooded stretch near the Little Calumet River — an area that until recently was monitored by the city’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection network.

A Department of Streets and Sanitation crew found the woman around 12:15 p.m. in the 600 block of East 134th Place.

Chicago police do not know when she was shot, but she had been there for quite some time. As of Wednesday morning, her name, age, and race have not been determined. Nine shell casings were recovered next to her body, one for each gunshot that ShotSpotter could have notified CPD about.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has scheduled an autopsy for Wednesday.

Despite the fact that 70 percent of Chicagoans liked the Shotspotter program, Johnson allowed the city's contract with the service to expire in September, 2024. He said the service was "unreliable, expensive, and ineffective at reducing crime" while leading to the "over-policing in Black and brown communities." He's already said law enforcement efforts to remove violent criminals from his streets are "unholy" and "racist."

Meanwhile, a lot of Black and brown shooting victims might have had a chance to live had Shotspotter alerted authorities to the shots fired.

Right. She wasn't "overpoliced," and that's what's important to Johnson here.

Because Democrats believe "racism" is a worse offense than a woman, and 76 other people, getting gunned down.

Pritzker said crime is just part of being in a big city.