Year In Review
Posted on Thursday, January 1st, 2026
We speculated at the end of 2024 that “maybe the less cops, less tools, more rules has been the winning formula missing for all these years”. Possibly that along with a State’s Attorney that actually enforces the law has pulled off a decade low in hi-speed lead-related incidents despite the Kakistocratic leadership that runs the city and state.
2025: 433 killed, 1,592 wounded
2024: 613 killed, 2,444 wounded
2023: 650 killed, 2,500 wounded
2022: 740 killed, 2,936 wounded
2021: 856 killed, 3,745 wounded
2020: 800 killed, 3,472 wounded
2019: 521 killed, 2,291 wounded
2018: 592 killed, 2,465 wounded
2017: 685 killed, 2,935 wounded
2016: 808 killed, 3,658 wounded
2015: 513 killed, 2,546 wounded
2014: 465 killed, 2,239 wounded
Avg: 658 killed, 2,839 wounded
A breakdown of the year’s non-demonizable, silly decisions because they’ve been starved of opportunities in their own communities where law enforcement is a sickness that needs to be eradicated shows:
- 362 shot & killed
- 30 stabbed
- 20 beaten
- 21 killed via other means
- 18.5% shooting fatality rate
- 22 shot by police, 8 fatally
- 13 self defense, 4 fatally
- 89 homicide-linked arrests
- Averaged 5.4 people shot per day
- 26 mass shootings – 136 shot, 8 fatally
- 358/365 days recorded a shooting
- 123 days were homicide-free
- 376 in serious or critical condition
- 366 (89%) males killed vs 67 females
- 327 (75.5%) Blacks, 85 Hispanics, 21 other
- Average age of a homicide victim – 32
- Average age of a shooting victim – 31
- 21 children 12 and younger shot, 1 fatally
- Homicide age range: 0-80
- Team Austin won w/ 172 total shot
- 11th District led w/ 240 people shots/li>
- 6th District led w/ 47 homicides
- 8 expressway shootings, 0 fatal
- 88 grazed
- 29 selfies
- 80 Shot-In-The-Ass
We mistakenly believed we had bottomed out in 2024, only to watch the downward trend persist through 2025. In hindsight, we underestimated the significance of replacing a pro-criminal State’s Attorney with one who simply enforces the law as written (despite pro-criminal judges still being a persistent issue).
It’s no secret that most of what’s on this site is driven by a small number of low-IQ ne’er-do-wells who’ve done well by becoming their own protected victim class from 2016-2024. Removing even a portion of them from the streets creates a noticeable ripple effect on overall numbers. Despite that, enough of these retards remain active to the point where we believe we’ll be hanging around the 430-480 homicides, 1800-2200 total people shot levels for some time to come.
There is also the ever-present possibility of a lifelong, drug-addled wife-beater getting taken out by a cop somewhere and the media will try and whip up some ist-a-phobe-related violence (see 2014, 2016 & 2020). In fact, we’re past due for such an event.
As always, many thanks to everyone who visited, liked, retweeted, emailed, hit the tip jar and/or picked up some tees or other crap this past year. If you haven’t done so yet, maybe add it to the very bottom of your list of New Year’s resolutions. Have yourself a safe and prosperous new year.
Comments are off for this post.
With mere hours left in 2025, we wanted to post our annual note to illustrate how the year-end totals are accounted for and how best to compare this year to years past. 
This year will be more inline with the ghosts of Christmases near-present than the ghosts of Christmases with summer-like numbers and winter-like temperatures. 
‘Twas the weekend before Christmas, and all through wards, aldercreatures were stirring—like budget-hungry hordes. At the CTU stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Santa Brandon soon would be there. So up to the rooftop the deficits flew, with a sleigh full of spending, Brandon exclaimed, “Happy Christmas to all—and to all a good hike!”
It’s of no surprise to see whenever the Polar Vortex makes an appearance, the nonsense slows down, a lot. 
While the extended Thanksgiving weekend has been known to put up summer-like numbers in the past, this year, officers Cold, Blustery and Stormy will be cracking down on the non-demonizable silly decisions. 
When “isolated incident(s)” meets “kids will be kids” with a dash of “demonizing our children is wrong” and a soupçon of “silly decisions” and you’ll end up with “big cities have crime”. 
Downshifting into a lower violence gear is typical for this time of year as the lead flies a bit less, but in many cases proves more deadly. 
Officer Winter Storm will be on duty this weekend, which means the nonsense will be slower than having all the felonious, yellow-vested Justice-Involved Violence Influencers milling around on the same street corner. 
Due to a quirk in the scheduling, Halloween falling on a Friday this year yields two rounds of drunken nonsense up north as the usual demonization-free, completely acceptable “shootings will continue”. 
With Halloween falling on a Friday this year, the traditional Saturday before drunken shitshow will be spread across two weekends this year. Hence, we’ll look for the standard drunken idiocy up north, while the usual non-demonizable, law enforcement is a sickness-involved nonsense plays out elsewhere. 
Remember the last “No Kings” protest? We neither. Apparently aging Boomers backed by some NGO cash (or maybe donations from gambling winnings) are going to give it another go. Hearing aids to 11! Meanwhile, here’s a list of incidents that will never see a protest… 
Quite a bit of non-Chicago crime stuff in motion at the moment. Therefore, there were zero updates for this past weekend. The full weekend wrap-up won’t published this time around (13 shot, 3 fatally, or 18 shot, 4 fatally if you include 
With the summer-like weather of late, it seems as if we’re inching closer to the finding out stage (say, Broadview-way). Maybe come Tuesday, a switch towards more seasonal weather won’t make it worth the paycheck. In the meantime, the usual acceptable nonsense and stupidity will continues. 
Coming off a disastrous Labor Day weekend, it seemed for a while there that this September was going to outpace last September’s homicide tally. However, some sort of sickness took hold and slowly eradicated the trend to a point where the end results wound up at decade lows. 
This weekend marks the first anniversary of those racist walkie-talkies (i.e., ShotSpotter) being deactivated. In that timeframe, 56 (known) victims have become “Brandon’s Bodies” with 26 proving fatal. Those numbers do not include the 1000s and 1000s of shooting incidents where no one catches a round that are no longer reported. See how that works? And with shootings “down”, Mayor Panic Attack feels it’s a good time to say the quiet part out loud with his proclamation that 
In years past, Mexican Independence Day caravans would bring traffic to a complete standstill just because, however this year may be different for a number of reasons. We’ll see if it takes 2 hours to go 3 miles. 
Amazing! We never figured that Justice-Involved Violence 
Labor Day weekend means it’s time to close out this year’s demonization-free Summer of Silly Decisions. Since the silly decisions began in earnest at noon on Friday, May 23rd, we’ve tallied 137 homicides and another 628 shot & wounded making it quite a bit less sillier than past years. 
For the entire time we’ve been tracking this nonsense, at least once a year (usually around Memorial Day) some politician, “activist” or other brain damaged member of the kakistocracy says it’s time to bring in the National Guard. Surprisingly, pro-criminal pols, justice-involved violence influencers and associated grifters are now against such a move. 
The Air & Water Show returned to the lakefront as always this weekend, while the Lead in the Air Show continues apace elsewhere around town.
Minimal updates for the next week or so unless the silly decisions become over-demonized and unacceptable. Grab the mail and water the plants. The emergency numbers are by the phone. No silly decisions or demonizing while we’re away. 
It’s the weekend where suburban teens and 20-something Trixies and Chads make silly decisions and get an expensive ambulance ride to Northwestern, elsewhere around town, Shootapalooza is comprised of silly decisions of a different sort. 
It’s that time of year when Rahm’s ye odle Weather Modification Device is dragged out of the flooded basement and switched on for a bit. Precipitation resulting in flooded streets are a great way to minimize drive-by silly decisions. 
With NASCAR dropping word late Friday they won’t be back next year, there are now plenty of opportunities (and room) to create a massive, demonization-free Safe Space in Grant Park. 
After declaring crime is down with the help of equitable, yet diverse Justice Involved Violence Influencers, the July 4th week showed that crime may be on the uptick again, but only because General Nixon of the 37th Indiana Regiment of the Confederacy refuses to participate in a drum circle. 
Many years ago, this weekend was a lock for the most violent of the year. However, when the wheels came off in late May of 2020, it was relegated to just another lead-filled, mostly peaceful, often violent weekend of silly decisions with an extra day or two thrown in to pad the stats. Given the relative slowdown since February it’s likely this weekend will once again become tops for the year. 
Pride cometh before the 
Our first all 70° weekend was delayed by nearly two months, but now we’ll be pushing 100° for the majority of the weekend. Extreme heat acts much like extreme cold – people tend to stay indoors and therefore (usually) out of the line of fire. Using history as a guide, once the sun goes down the porches, sidewalks and corners will be packed with potential targets. 
Five years ago, Father’s Day weekend ended up being the absolute shitshows of shitshows making it the highest tally we’ve ever recorded for a standard, non-holiday weekend. This year we have the totally organic, grassroots, paid agitator-free, mayoral approved, surprisingly peaceful “No Kings” protest. Thankfully, no attempted replay of May 2020, here anyway. 
Nearly two months behind schedule for our first all 70°s weekend, however at this point it’s unlikely to as much a difference as it has in years past. 
Five years ago this weekend, downtown as well as large swaths of the west and south sides transformed into Safe Spaces as Burning, Looting & Murder were not only acceptable but openly encouraged. Our recently revised totals from those two days, Saturday 5/30/20, and Sunday 5/31/20, show 28 killed and 70 shot and wounded. 
The Summer of Silly Decisions has arrived! Starting this weekend and for the next 100 days, poor life choices will accompany silly decisions resulting in maximum stupidity. However stupid or silly, they’re just kids, so we ask that you please do not demonize them. 
There was a possibly of this weekend being our first all 70°s weekend of the year, but it’s looking like that’ll be delayed until next weekend. In any event, the forecast does call from an elevated risk of traditional Mother’s Day violence. 
Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Guacamole gots to go! 
With the lack of the first all 70° weekend along with subsequent summer-like previews, this weekend will put a bow on what will be a very quiet, maybe eerily quiet April with the fewest homicides since the 2013 campaign. 