Crime & Law
CPD Officers Shot and Killed as Many People in First 5 Months of 2025 as They Did in All of 2024: Data
Chicago Police Department officers shot 12 people, killing six, during the first five months of 2025, the same number of people officers shot and killed in all of 2024, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
That toll includes six people shot by police officers in the month of May alone. Two were killed, records show.
On June 5, Officer Krystal Rivera became the seventh person to be shot and killed by a Chicago police officer in 2025. Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said Rivera, 36, was “unintentionally” shot in the back by her partner as they chased a man who fled from them after they attempted to stop and search him because they suspected he had a weapon.
The significant surge in shootings by officers in the first five months of 2025 comes more than six years after city and police leaders agreed to extensive oversight from a federal judge in an effort to restore the public’s trust in CPD after the police murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald and decades of scandals sparked by misconduct and brutality.
That reform effort had one key goal: to make it less likely that an altercation between an officer and a Chicagoan turns deadly.
CPD has fully complied with just 16% of those court-ordered reforms, known as the consent decree, which requires CPD to stop routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights by the end of 2024, according to the court-appointed monitoring team charged with keep track of reform efforts.
WTTW News and ProPublica reported in November that the reform effort was at a tipping point, with advocates for police reform losing faith in the process and increasingly concerned the opportunity for lasting reform is slipping away.
Alexandra Block of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which sued the city to force it to agree to federal court oversight, said the spike in the number of people shot by Chicago police officers in the first five months 2025 is evidence that the costly reform effort has yet to translate into actual change Chicagoans can feel in their neighborhoods.
“The consent decree is supposed to be changing the culture of CPD,” Block said. “We are not seeing that.”
All of the 2025 shootings are under investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the city agency better known as COPA that is charged with determining whether the shootings were justified and complied with CPD policy.
“COPA remains dedicated to conducting fair, thorough and timely investigations, evaluating each incident on its own,” a COPA spokesperson said in a statement to WTTW News. “While we recognize an increase in officer-involved shootings this year, we are closely examining emerging patterns and practices and will inform the department, and the public as relevant findings become available.”
Representatives of CPD and Supt. Larry Snelling did not respond to a detailed list of questions from WTTW News about the increase in the number of fatal and nonfatal shootings by officers.
“CPD leaders better be asking themselves some really tough questions about why this is happening,” Block said. “They owe the public an explanation.”
The significant increase in the number of people shot by CPD officers came at the same time that Chicago recorded a noteworthy drop in the number of violent crimes, according to CPD data. Homicides dropped 28% during first five months of 2025, and the number of shootings dropped 35%, as compared with the first five months of 2024, city records show.
All but two of the police shootings took place on the South and West sides. Mayor Brandon Johnson has said there is evidence that officers have engaged in an “egregious form of policing” in neighborhoods that are home to a majority of Black and Latino Chicagoans.
A spokesperson for Johnson said each shooting should be investigated “based on the unique circumstances of the incident.”
“Decontextualizing the incidents by just looking at the topline number is not evidence that the reforms to the Chicago Police Department are ineffective or unnecessary,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. “There is no evidence that the increase in police-involved shootings in the past five months is in any way related to the reforms set out by the consent decree.”
The significant increase in the number of people killed by Chicago police officers in the first five months of 2025 did not come up during a hearing last week on CPD’s consent decree compliance.
A spokesperson for the consent decree monitoring team and the judge overseeing the case declined to comment on the increase in the number of people shot and killed by Chicago police during the first five months of 2025. The spokesperson for the judge and the team said they’re prohibited from doing so under the decree.
However, the monitoring team said it was “concerned” about the 47% increase in the reports of use of force by officers between 2023 and 2024 and noted that CPD brass had “agreed to conduct a detailed analysis of the potential cause or causes of the increase,” in its most recent report, released in April.
In addition, supervisors corrected officers only 3% of the time when CPD flagged policy violations when reviewing the reports officers are required to submit to document any time an officer uses force against a member of the public, according to the report.
The monitors asked CPD for data and “any insight on the historical trends” as it works to determine whether that increase reflects increased reporting, as required by the consent decree, or an increase in the number of times officers used force against Chicagoans and visitors to the city.
“The primary purpose of the consent decree was to end unnecessary and discriminatory police violence,” said Craig Futterman, a professor of law at the University of Chicago who represented a coalition of groups that sued the city to force it to agree to judicial oversight. “These shootings raise questions about whether there is something deeply problematic happening within CPD.”
Neither Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward), the chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, nor Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward), the chair of the Police and Fire Committee, responded to a detailed list of questions from WTTW News about the increase in the number of people shot by police since the start of the year.
Although a resolution adopted by the City Council requires hearings about CPD’s compliance with the consent decree every three months, it has been 15 months since the last hearing, records show.
Just one of the shootings occurred on the North Side, while another took place in Hammond, Indiana, records show.
Three of the shootings during the first five months of 2025 followed foot chases, which CPD policy limits because the high-stress and fast-moving interactions pose a serious threat to both officers and those being pursued, records show.
Officer Rivera was killed after a brief foot chase after she and her partner chased a man they suspected of having a weapon into a Chatham apartment and were confronted by a man with an AR-style pistol, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
That man pointed the gun at Rivera’s partner, who has not been identified, who fired once, striking Rivera in the back and killing her, officials said.
Adrian Rucker, 25, of Freeport, was charged with armed violence and use of a firearm without a firearm owner’s identification card, as well as possessing a fake identification card and drugs in connection with the incident that led to Rivera’s death, police officials said.
In four of the shootings, police said they shot individuals armed with knives, records show. Two of those shootings were fatal, records show.
Twice, officers shot individuals after deploying their tasers, records show.
CPD’s use of force policy, last revised in 2023, sets the department’s highest priority as the sanctity of human life. It also requires officers to use de-escalation techniques and only respond with increasing levels of force when “objectively reasonable, necessary and proportional based on the totality of circumstances that the officer was confronted with,” officials said.
Using lethal force, like firing a gun, must be a last resort, in direct response to an imminent threat to the officer, another officer or someone else, according to the policy.
Five Months: 12 Shootings, 6 People Killed
The first person killed by a Chicago police officer in 2025 was Timothy Glaze, who was shot 16 times outside his Little Village apartment on Jan. 3 as he walked toward officers while carrying a knife, records obtained by WTTW News show.
Glaze’s family and girlfriend, who called police, have repeatedly urged Johnson to fire the officer who shot Glaze, saying they should have responded “with empathy, de-escalation and the proper training to handle someone in mental duress.”
The second police shooting in 2025 occurred Jan. 23, when police were called to a home in Mount Greenwood by someone who had threatened members of their family. When officers arrived, they observed “an individual sitting in a second-story window. As officers attempted to verbally engage with the individual from outside the residence, an officer discharged their weapon, striking the individual, causing them to fall to the ground. The individual was then transported to a hospital in serious condition,” according to a statement from COPA.
The initial interaction and subsequent shooting were captured by officers’ body-worn cameras, according to a statement from COPA.
Although city policy requires video footage of police shootings to be released within 60 days of the incident, a court order blocked the release of footage of the Jan. 23 shooting, according to documents published by COPA.
On Feb. 2, Chicago police officers responding to a call of a burglary in progress at a North Lawndale building “encountered an individual running from a building, which resulted in a foot chase and an exchange of gunfire,” according to a statement from COPA.
Four officers fired at the man, according to body-worn camera footage released by COPA.
None of the officers were injured, but the man fleeing police was killed, officials said. A gun was recovered at the scene of the shooting, according to a statement from COPA.
On Feb. 28, Chicago police officers responded to a call about a person armed with a knife in Hegewisch. After ignoring verbal commands from the officers, the “armed individual moved towards the officer, resulting in the officer discharging their weapon, striking the individual. The individual was transported to a hospital in critical condition,” according to a statement from COPA.
A court order blocked COPA from releasing footage of the Feb. 28 shooting, according to documents published by COPA.
On March 20, Chicago police officers responded to a call about an ongoing incident of domestic violence in Pullman.
“One of the officers encountered an armed individual and victim inside a bedroom,” according to a statement from COPA.” As the victim fled the room, the armed individual pointed a firearm in the direction of the officer. The officer discharged their weapon, striking the individual.”
Devon Smith Sr. was killed, according to documents released by COPA. A gun was recovered at the scene of the shooting, according to a statement from COPA.
On April 7, officers in River North “observed an individual known to have an outstanding warrant, who they later observed was armed with a knife,” according to a statement from COPA.
“The individual fled from officers. Officers pursued and attempted to de-escalate the situation and then deployed their tasers towards the individual,” according to a statement from COPA. “The individual continued to disregard verbal commands and turned toward officers still holding the knife. Two officers then discharged their weapons, striking the individual.”
The man was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and a knife was recovered at the scene, according to a statement from COPA.
A court order blocked COPA from releasing footage of the April 7 shooting, according to documents published by COPA.
On May 5, Chicago police officers responded to a call for help from residents of a South Shore assisted living facility about a man with a knife, officials said.
After officers located the man with a knife, “officers attempted to de-escalate the situation and then deployed their tasers towards the individual,” according to a statement from COPA. “The individual continued to disregard verbal commands and rushed toward an officer while swinging the knife. Two officers discharged their weapons, striking the individual multiple times.”
Alfonzo Wright was killed, according to documents released by COPA.
A gun was recovered at the scene of the shooting, according to a statement from COPA.
Wright is suspected of killing 58-year-old Keith Harding, who was found fatally stabbed in another unit on the same floor of the building, officials said.
Later that same day, May 5, an off-duty officer “observed a domestic disturbance” inside a Roseland home, according to a statement from COPA.
“A confrontation with an individual and the off-duty officer ensued, during which the off-duty officer discharged their weapon, striking the individual,” according to a statement from COPA. The individual was transported to the hospital in critical condition. A gun was recovered on scene.”
On May 8, Chicago police officers responded to a call of a person with a gun in Hegewisch. They saw the individual get into a car and flee the scene, officials said.
After the car crashed a short time later in Hammond, Indiana, “the individual exited their vehicle, and an exchange of gunfire occurred between the individual and the officers,” according to a statement from COPA. “The individual was struck multiple times and was transported to the hospital, where they were pronounced deceased.”
The Lake County Coroner’s Office in Indiana later identified the person killed by Chicago police officers as Joseph Navarro, 50.
On May 10, as Chicago police broke up a large gathering of people in Austin, “one individual fled the scene” and two officers pursued them, according to a statement from COPA.
During the foot pursuit, the individual fell to the ground and dropped a gun, according to a statement from COPA.
“Despite officers giving verbal commands, the individual appeared to reach for the gun,” according to a statement from COPA. “One of the officers discharged their weapon, striking the individual. The individual was transported to the hospital in fair condition.”
On May 29, officers attempted to stop and search a man in Humboldt Park, who refused to comply. It is not clear why officers attempted to stop the man, later identified as Nathaniel Fejerang, 19, who lived nearby.
To stop individuals, officers must have a “reasonable articulable suspicion that the person is committing, about to commit, or has committed a criminal offense,” according to department policy.
When he fled on foot, officers chased him, according to a statement from COPA.
“While attempting to detain the individual, the officers gave verbal commands, and a struggle ensued,” according to a statement from COPA. “A round was discharged, striking an officer in the leg. A separate officer discharged their weapon, striking the individual.”
A weapon was recovered at the scene, according to a statement from COPA.
Fejerang died after being taken to the hospital. The injured officer was treated and released May 30 from the hospital.
On May 31, officers responded to a call for help from representatives of a Belmont Cragin business, who reported that shots had been fired amid a large fight just after 2 a.m., officials said.
As officers attempted to detain a man identified by an employee of the business as responsible for the violence, he got into a truck, according to a statement from COPA.
After officers ordered him out of the truck, the man “accelerated the vehicle in the direction of the officers, striking one officer,” according to a statement from COPA.
“Two officers discharged their weapons toward the vehicle as the individual began to flee the scene,” according to a statement from COPA.
Police discovered the critically injured man and the truck several blocks away and recovered a gun. The injured officer suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene, officials said.
Carlos Sanchez-Roa, 28, was charged with attempted murder as well as aggravated assault and battery of a police officer in connection with the May 31 shooting, according to a CPD spokesperson.
Intense Pressure on COPA
The significant increase in the number of people shot by police will ratchet up the pressure on COPA, which has been without a permanent leader confirmed by the Chicago City Council.
LaKenya White, who served as a director of investigations of COPA and is a 25-year veteran of city agencies charged with investigating police misconduct, replaced Andrea Kersten on an interim basis. Kersten resigned as COPA’s chief administrator in February.
“COPA’s experienced leadership and investigative team continues to work diligently on these recent cases and all active investigations, reflecting our unwavering commitment to civilian oversight,” according to a statement from a COPA spokesperson.
Johnson said through a spokesperson he was confident White and COPA would conduct “transparent and thorough investigations” of each shooting, calling that “critical to maintaining the trust of the public.”
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability is conducting a nationwide search for a new leader for COPA, but has not yet made an application available for those interested to apply, according to its website.
Once the commission, better known as CCPSA, makes its pick, the mayor will have a chance to weigh in before the selection heads to the City Council for confirmation.
CCPSA President Anthony Driver Jr. did not respond to a detailed list of questions about the increase in police shootings and the search for a new COPA leader.
The ACLU’s Block said the increase in the number of people shot by police since the start of the year makes the selection of a new leader for COPA even more important.
“The next leader of COPA must be independent-minded and able to hold officers accountable for misconduct,” Block said. “It is a critical appointment.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
