Crime & Law
Shootings, Homicides Across Chicago in 2026 Remain on Pace With Last Year’s Historic Lows: Police
A Chicago Police Department vehicle is parked on Clark Street near Daley Plaza on June 15, 2026. (Victor Hilitski / WTTW News)
The city of Chicago in August saw its fewest homicides across any such month in more than a decade as violence levels remain in line with last year’s historic lows.
There were 39 homicides recorded throughout August, according to new data from the Chicago Police Department, marking the lowest total for any August since 2011.
That brings this year’s homicide total to 289 through the end of August. That is two more than the city recorded at the same time in 2025, a year that closed with Chicago’s lowest homicide total in 60 years.
The 141 shooting incidents recorded in August also marked a nearly 20% decline compared to the same month last year, while the total number of people shot (198 in August 2026) fell by nearly 18%, according to the CPD figures.
Through the first eight months of 2026, 1,264 people in Chicago have been shot, according to the CPD, which is a decline of about 1% compared to the same time last year.
That total includes a mass shooting in Washington Park over the weekend that left one person dead and 14 others injured. Police are continuing to look for a suspect in that incident, and interim Police Superintendent Fred Waller said this week investigators believe the shooting was “somewhat targeted.”
President Donald Trump commented in a social media post after the shooting that “Chicago violence is unchecked and at record levels. It has never been worse!”
Trump, who has previously sought to deploy military troops into Chicago, said “the city will die if the Federal Government, a fine tuned crime fighting machine, is not invited in, by the Mayor or Governor, to HELP. I am awaiting the call.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson responded to Trump’s comments Tuesday, saying “When you have a president who is literally defunding the operations that can actually assist us in creating safer communities, it’s difficult to take anything that he says seriously.”
Gov JB Pritzker, a vocal Trump opponent and possible 2028 presidential candidate, said Tuesday in a post of his own that the last time Trump sent agents to Illinois, “they murdered a father and shot an innocent woman in broad daylight — then attempted to cover it up,” referencing the shootings of Silverio Villegas González and Marimar Martinez by federal agents last year.
“We need to keep reducing violence,” Pritzker said in a social media post, “but this President does not make it easier.”
The number of robberies recorded in 2026 are down 23% year-to-date, CPD figures show, while burglaries have declined by 11%.
The CPD said violent crime on the CTA’s train and bus lines dropped by 45% in August and is down 32% for the year, while property crimes have declined by 25% compared to this time last year.
Chicago police officers also recovered 1,049 firearms in August, and 7,346 firearms since the beginning of the year.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
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