Investigators said two gunmen climbed from a sedan and fired at men sitting in a parked vehicle on South Justine Street.
CHICAGO, Ill. — A predawn shooting in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood left two men dead Monday after attackers approached a parked vehicle and opened fire, according to police.
The case began just after midnight and quickly turned into a homicide investigation with two victims and no suspects in custody. Police said the men were 19 and 20 years old. One was pronounced dead where he was found, and the other later died at a hospital. Detectives from the department’s Area One unit were assigned to investigate, but officials released only a limited account of what happened and did not identify the shooters beyond saying they were two males.
According to police, the shooting happened about 12:44 a.m. in the 5000 block of South Justine Street. The two victims were inside a parked car when a dark-colored sedan pulled up. Two men got out of that vehicle and fired shots, police said, then fled in the same sedan. The 19-year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The 20-year-old was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he later died. The timeline outlined by police pointed to a brief and deliberate attack, one that appears to have unfolded before officers could intervene. By midafternoon, the department had not released further information about the victims’ identities, the number of wounds they suffered or how close the shooters came before firing.
What investigators know publicly and what they have kept private are not the same. Police disclosed the broad sequence of events but left key parts of the case unresolved. They did not say whether the victims were waiting for someone, whether the sedan had been circling the block, or whether the men in the parked car were specifically targeted. No motive was announced. Police also did not say whether the shooting may have been captured by surveillance cameras, which often play a central role in cases involving quick drive-up or drive-by attacks. The lack of a fuller suspect description suggested detectives were either still sorting through early evidence or withholding details that could help preserve the integrity of witness interviews and later identification efforts.
On Chicago’s South and Southwest sides, many homicide investigations begin with the same narrow frame: a call time, a location, a pair of victims or a single victim, and a small set of facts confirmed by responding officers. The fuller story tends to emerge in stages. Hospital records, autopsy findings, interviews and any recovered ballistics can sharpen or even change the initial picture. In this case, early media reports reflected that evolving process. One account described one victim as critically wounded before later reports confirmed that both men had died. That progression is common in overnight shootings, when a victim’s condition changes after transport and before detectives or newsrooms can update the public record. It also shows how fast-moving violence cases can shift from injury investigations to homicide cases within hours.
The next steps now rest with detectives, forensic technicians and prosecutors. Investigators are likely to process the victims’ vehicle, compare shell casings through crime-lab systems, review nearby camera footage and retrace the sedan’s route before and after the shooting. If a suspect is identified, the case would move to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office for a charging decision. Until then, the deaths remain part of an open investigation, with the usual uncertainties that come in the first day of a double killing. Police had not announced any arrests, public suspect bulletin or scheduled news conference. The Cook County medical examiner’s office is expected to formally identify the victims once family notifications and administrative steps are complete.
The scene described by police was stark in its simplicity: two young men in a parked car, a sedan pulling up, two gunmen stepping out, shots fired, and then silence after the attackers sped off. Those details, though spare, draw a picture of speed and intent. They also leave a neighborhood to absorb another burst of violence with few immediate answers. For nearby residents, the most visible signs of the case may have been flashing lights, blocked traffic and detectives moving through the block before sunrise. For the families of the victims, the day’s official timeline would have been reduced to a few devastating milestones — the shooting, the hospital run, the pronouncement, and the start of an investigation that had only just begun.
By late Monday, authorities were still searching for the shooters and had not said when they might release more information. The next public development is likely to come through police, the medical examiner or any future criminal charges.
Author note: Last updated March 13, 2026.