Teen found shot to death in Chicago's Lawndale neighborhood
A homicide investigation is underway after a 13-year-old boy was found shot to death early Monday morning in the Lawndale neighborhood
No 911 call was made, but Ald. Monique Scott (24th) said he was found in a backyard.
Scott confirmed that ShotSpotter technology used to be in place in the neighborhood where the boy was found and says it could have helped police and first responders find him sooner, and she's not alone.
Chicago Police found an unresponsive teenage boy while on patrol after Scott says his mom reported him missing, and no one called 911 to report the shooting.
"If we had ShotSpotter or some kind of tool, we could've known where to find this kid, and he was just left in a backyard for we don't know how long," Scott said.
It's why she's continuing her call for the city to reinstate gunshot detection technology.
"I'm not saying this young boy would've been saved, but we wouldn't known where he was sooner," she said.
She plans to call for others in the City Council to join her. Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) says he already has.
"We can't keep doing this. We can't keep pretending everything is alright when we know it's not, and if anything comes out of this tragedy, it should be the last time we have someone killed because no one called 911," he said.
Lopez says the majority of Chicago alderpeople agree.
"This is exactly what 32 of my colleagues and I were trying to tell the mayor," he said.
City Council members voted 33-14 in favor of an ordinance overturning the Mayor's decision to remove the technology last year.
"The mayor just decided that was not a law he needed to follow, and he decided to turn the technology off despite what the city council did," Lopez said.
After months of debate in City Hall, Shotspotter went offline in September.
Since it was first tested in 2017, taxpayers spent roughly $50 million on the system. Despite its high price tag, it was criticized for failing to result in a large number of arrests, prosecutions, or even evidence of a crime — some of the reasons Mayor Brandon Johnson campaigned to remove it.
Lopez complained that Mayor Johnson has not taken action since aldermen voted to overturn his decision to get rid of ShotSpotter and place the decision in the hands of police Supt. Larry Snelling. Mayor Johnson initially said he would veto the ordinance, but later decided not to do so — on the grounds that it was no longer necessary because the ordinance is not enforceable.
"The Johnson administration refuses to adhere to the laws passed by City Council that says we want this technology available," Lopez said.
Scott says the crime scene in her ward, a family grieving their 13-year-old, is why she will continue to push for some kind of technology because people do not call the police every time they hear gunshots. In many neighborhoods, gunshots are heard often.
"We need some type of gun detection technology. It works. It saves lives. No, it's not a miracle tool that's going to come out and stop the bullet by hand, but it detects where the gunshots are coming from," she said.
Police are still investigating this shooting. As of Monday afternoon, no arrests had been made.
CBS Chicago has reached out to the mayor's office for comment but has yet to hear back.
