Expressways in the Chicagoland area have seen a surge in shootings over the past five years. Since 2019, there have been 868 shootings on expressways across Illinois, with most occurring in the Chicago metro area. These incidents make driving from north to south and east to west very dangerous.
So far in 2024, there have been 42 expressway shootings, which is a significant decrease compared to last year. However, just last Friday, there was another shooting on I-55, adding to the recent string of gunfire incidents that have left drivers and passengers shaken, injured, or dead.
The issue has become so serious that the Illinois State Police (ISP) created a dashboard to track these shootings. The dashboard includes data on the number of shootings, timing, dates, details, and fatalities. The map on this site shows numerous red markers indicating shooting incidents, highlighting how common these events have become. Only a few short stretches of expressways have been without shootings in the past five years.
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The most dangerous expressway is I-94 (the Dan Ryan), with 206 shootings since 2019. The next most dangerous is I-290 (the Eisenhower Expressway) with 136 shootings.
Shootings are most likely to occur on Sundays, with Fridays and Saturdays also being high-risk days. In response to the violence, ISP installed 99 new license plate reading cameras along the Dan Ryan and nearly 200 others on other expressways. ISP Director Brendan Kelly emphasized the importance of these cameras, noting that they help identify suspects in 80% of all expressway shootings. ISP claims their current success rate in identifying shooters in fatal expressway attacks is 100%.
However, not everyone supports the use of these cameras. A recent lawsuit argues that the cameras constitute unconstitutional “dragnet surveillance.” The lawsuit, filed by two Chicago residents and the Liberty Justice Center, demands that the cameras be shut down.
