Just heard from my daughter. More details here:
https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/4/4/ucpd-officers-involved-shooting-53rd-kimbark-ave/
Before anyone panic about crime in Hyde Park, just last week in a very upscale shopping center in Chicago suburb there was a carjacking. Chicago is not Garden of Eden. Crime does happen even in the safest and most affluent neighborhood.
And in this case I am not even sure this is crime. It looks like from preliminary report that a student was acting nuts. Maybe he was drunk or on drug?
Really sad! I hope the student is OK. I hope the use of deadly force was justified (as it could well have been with a crazy person wielding a metal pole).
On first view, it looks like this has absolutely nothing to do with crime in Hyde Park, or with anything particular about the University of Chicago. It’s a mentally ill person acting out violently, who happens to be a University of Chicago student.
This is our family’s observation: around every major holiday there will be an up tick of crime. My kid said it well last night: Maybe it was time a criminal realized he/she was broke and he/she needed money right away and so a mugging or car break-in was easiest way to get some cash in a hurry?
BTW for all of you that will be joining the U of C community, it will be inevitable that you will receive a security update from Mr. Eric Heath, Associate VP for Safety and Security. The email will alert you the latest crime in Hyde Park. It usually is about a stick up and university always advises student/faulty not to resist.
I am not making any judgment on the shooting itself, except to agree with @JHS that this is incredibly sad.
Here is the official university statement on the matter:
This was a UChicago student, a young male with what was likely to be a bright future.
@hebegebe Yes, I am well aware that in this case the young man who got shot is actually an University student. I am just commenting about in general on the stick up and mugging that we usually receive alert from Mr. Eric Heath.
Hyde Park and UofC had a rough week for crime. An early shooting on Easter (04/01) on 50th and Kimbark and a faculty member was a victim of armed robbery on 56th and Kimbark later on the same day. I think UofC could be more transparent about crime in the immediate area if they published stats for the patrolled area rather than the campus proper. IIRC UVa reports crime for the community as well as the campus.
An update from Maroon with a friend of the student criticizing UCPD as racist.
https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/4/4/ucpd-officers-involved-shooting-53rd-kimbark-ave/
U of C has released the dash cam and body cam of last night shooting. You make your own judgment whether the shooting is justified.
https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/4/4/ucpd-officers-involved-shooting-53rd-kimbark-ave/
"Hyde Park and UofC had a rough week for crime. An early shooting on Easter (04/01) on 50th and Kimbark and a faculty member was a victim of armed robbery on 56th and Kimbark later on the same day. "
There is never a good time for things like this to happen, but this is an especially bad time for visible crime close to campus and involving students. The first of the admitted student overnight events is this Thursday/Friday, with the second one following next week. Prospective students are making decisions about where to attend, and they and their parents are deciding if Chicago safety is an issue.
We spent time in the area and did some research about crime before even applying. But I can tell from his comments that these latest incidents have made my son feel less safe and less sure of his choice. He’s concerned, and I understand that concern. Although he’s still convinced this is the best possible academic and one of the best possible social fits for him, it’s obvious he’s feeling less sure about the safety aspects. Property crime (which we’d estimated was possible to probable) is one thing, but getting shot while on or right around campus is another thing, which up to now I think he hadn’t really considered a big risk.
I wonder if this will be addressed directly at the admitted student events? IMO, admin would be smart to discuss this issue.
I believe the shooting was justified. Still sad, though.
That video is shocking. Very smart of the UCPD to release that footage immediately as it appears to show that the suspect/student was clearly a threat (running straight at the officer), that there was only a single shot fired and the officers immediately got the suspect/student medical attention.
So sad. My kids and I have been talking about how unfortunate it is that certain mental illnesses often first appear or are triggered/exacerbated during those first, vulnerable years when young adults live away from home. It’s especially challenging to identify and treat those issues, especially when extended family isn’t close by and privacy laws limit the amount colleges know, can act on and can communicate.
For all your prospective students and parents, shooting like this (student shot by UCPD) is rare in Hyde Park. There have been shooting incidents (gang violence) in the past but they mainly occurred right at the border of Hyde Park and Washington Park along Cottage Grove Ave.
Hyde Park is not the quiet suburbs outside of Chicago. You do have to maintain some degree of vigilance walking outside of the main campus. But I would guess that is no different from going to Columbia, UPenn or Yale.
Honest question: How far in the past are you talking about? In the 13 years or so that I have been paying attention to Hyde Park, I have never heard of “gang violence” “shooting incidents” “along Cottage Grove Ave.,” at least not between 53rd and 61st. But I haven’t been paying daily attention, so I could have missed something.
The border of Washington Park, along Cottage Grove, is definitely ensconced in student folklore as one of those lines you are hesitant to cross. However, as is the case with many such lines, there is always a minority who cross it all the time with impunity and who pooh-pooh the notion that it’s unacceptably risky on the west side of the line.
Obviously, as you travel west in that part of Chicago, at some point you’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto (and then at some point you come to Midway Airport). I believe that gang violence periodically occurs between Cottage Grove and Midway, although not on the 55 bus. But I’m not certain it really occurs in Washington Park.
@JHS This is from last October:
"THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
OCTOBER 25, 2017
SECURITY ALERT
AT APPROXIMATELY 2:00 P.M., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25 - CHICAGO POLICE AND
UCPD OFFICERS RESPONDED OFF-CAMPUS TO 52ND STREET AND COTTAGE GROVE
AVENUE TO A SHOTS FIRED CALL. UPON ARRIVAL, THEY DISCOVERED A PERSON
UNAFFILIATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY WHO SUFFERED A GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE
HEAD. IT WAS REPORTED THAT AN UNKNOWN INDIVIDUAL FIRED SEVERAL SHOTS
FROM A VEHICLE, WHICH THEN FLED IN AN UNKNOWN DIRECTION. THE VICTIM WAS
TRANSPORTED TO THE HOSPITAL BY CHICAGO FIRE DEPARTMENT EMS. CHICAGO
POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING THIS SHOOTING."
This shooting happened at 52nd and Cottage Grove and so it is technically outside of your 53rd and 61st boundary. I have to wait for verification from current students but that northwestern corner of Hyde Park is not frequented by students. In my days I would never went near that area but when I recently drove by that area, it has been completely rejuvenated. The former Chicago Osteopathic Hospital has been converted to a condo building and there are decent townhouses built in that sector. Nowadays the northwestern quadrant of HP has a much more middle class residential feel to it than it used to be.
We have friends that live in Kenwood. Some of these mansions are from a different era. But they are only just a few blocks away from the Cottage Grove boundary.
Come to think about it, the Obama residence is only 3 to 4 blocks away from Washington Park. While he was President, he didn’t come back to Kenwood frequently. But I was told when he did, it was a traffic nightmare on East Hyde Park Blvd.
@mile30 #10
“Property crime (which we’d estimated was possible to probable) is one thing, but getting shot while on or right around campus is another thing, which up to now I think he hadn’t really considered a big risk.”
I would not worry about safety on campus. You can feel the presence of UCPD there. And along 59th and 60th UChicago Safety and Security literally put someone there standing guard 24/7. I wouldn’t feel unsafe on campus even at 3:00 am. IMHO the gun shot incident on Tuesday night is a total outliner.
In Hyde Park your son (if he decides to enroll) does have to exercise some caution. Walking north on Ellis at 53rd with his eyes staring at his iPhone may not be the smartest idea. My friends’ kids take UGo bus a lot. That will eliminate a lot of potential risk of being mugged, not to mention avoiding bone freezing wind chill in January 
My daughter was in Maclean (54th and Ingleside) her first year, and my son spent his second year in an apartment on Drexel between 53rd and 54th. So very much in that vicinity. Neither ever felt particularly unsafe there, although I can’t say either spent a lot of time those years walking north or west of where they lived. No particular reason to. They would go up to 53rd and beyond for things and to visit friends, but generally farther east. By the time you got to the area near the Obamas’ house, the neighborhood felt very different than it did on its western edge.
Speculating here but this does sound as if someone had a psychotic episode. 18 - 21 is a pretty typical age for schizophrenia to occur, and on occasion can lead to very dangerous behavior, especially if triggered by stress. It’s unfortunate that this young man who was shot happened to be a person of color (according to that Maroon article) and that he happened to be a UChicago student. However, neither of those factors - nor the fact that this happened in Hyde Park on the eve of Accepted Student Open House Weekend - has anything to do with what occurred and almost nothing to do with “safety” unless we are talking about how to prevent someone’s mental illness from harming himself and others. This incident could have happened anywhere, including my quiet neighborhood in MN, and at any time. Most importantly, he could have been anyone’s kid. We all know families who have experienced the difficult journey of schizophrenia or similar psychotic disorders - good families with wonderful kids who became violent before a definitive diagnosis could even be achieved. That’s the horrible reality that is mental illness. Can’t even imagine what this kid’s parents are feeling right now. My heart goes out to them.
The student’s mother was interviewed by Maroon:
https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/4/5/mom-student-shot-ucpd-says-family-history-bipolar/
I have to say the Maroon is really doing a good job of keeping the UChicago community informed in a fair and balanced manner (absolutely no pun intended).