Police said five males approached the victims on South Calumet Avenue before gunfire erupted.
CHICAGO — Two men were killed in a late-night shooting in the Chatham neighborhood after a group of five males approached them on the South Side, opened fire and fled on foot, according to Chicago police.
The shooting happened at 11:21 p.m. Tuesday in the 7800 block of South Calumet Avenue, a residential stretch near 78th Street. The killings added to a violent overnight period across the South Side and left detectives trying to determine who in the group was armed, who fired and what led to the attack. No arrests had been announced Wednesday, and police said Area Two detectives were leading the investigation.
Investigators said the two men were outside when the group approached them. Police said there was an encounter, then shots were fired. A 37-year-old man was struck in the chest and died at the scene. A 44-year-old man was shot multiple times and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he later died. Police said the five suspects ran from the block toward 79th Street. By Wednesday morning, authorities had not publicly identified the victims, and police had not said whether the men knew the shooters before the gunfire began.
Early accounts from police left several major questions unresolved. Officers said it was not clear how many people in the group were armed or how many fired shots. That uncertainty has shaped the first phase of the investigation, because detectives must piece together whether all five people took part directly in the shooting or whether some were present during the confrontation and then ran. Police also did not say what kind of encounter happened before the gunfire, whether there was an argument, or whether any witness described a vehicle nearby. The location remained part of an active homicide investigation Wednesday, with detectives expected to review surveillance footage from homes, businesses and street-facing cameras in the area.
The killings happened during a broader stretch of overnight violence on the South Side. In another shooting earlier Tuesday night, police said a 19-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were wounded near 67th and Halsted streets in Englewood. Later, two men were stabbed on a CTA Red Line train near the 47th Street station after an argument escalated. Those incidents were separate from the Chatham shooting, but together they formed the backdrop for another difficult night for residents in neighborhoods that have repeatedly dealt with gun violence and transit-related attacks. The Chatham shooting stood out because both victims were killed and the suspected attackers fled before officers could stop them.
Police have not announced a motive, and no charges had been filed as of Wednesday. The next steps in the case are likely to include a canvass for witnesses, collection of shell casings and forensic evidence, review of any camera footage from South Calumet Avenue and follow-up interviews with people who may have seen the five suspects before or after the shooting. Detectives also were expected to work with the Cook County medical examiner’s office as the victims’ identities were confirmed and relatives were notified. Investigators had not announced any planned public briefing beyond the initial police account, and no court hearing had been scheduled because no one was in custody.
By daybreak, the known facts were stark and limited: two men had been shot, one died where he fell and the other died after being rushed to a hospital. The shooters, police said, disappeared on foot into the surrounding blocks. That left neighbors and relatives waiting for more answers while homicide detectives tried to turn a brief, chaotic encounter late Tuesday into a clearer timeline of who approached the victims, what was said and why the attack happened. For now, the case remains open, with investigators still working to identify the people who ran from the scene.
The case remained under investigation Wednesday, with no arrests announced and no suspect names released. The next milestone is likely to come when police identify the victims publicly or announce whether surveillance video or witness accounts have led detectives to the five people seen fleeing toward 79th Street.
Author note: Last updated March 26, 2026.