They Don’t Care: Violence, Failed Priorities and Broken Policies

April 16, 2026 | John Kugler |
April 16, 2026 | John Kugler |
Image Drug addict dancing around Chicago Police after doing dugs in teh alley near Howard Red Line CTA drug dealing location April 15th 2026 SubX.News®

SubX.News® Street Report – April 15, 2026

Student gunned down at bus stop after school.

Eric “EK” Billups (16) a Hyde Park Academy student was executed at a bus stop on 63rd & Stony on April 15, 2026, just minutes after school let out.

He and his girlfriend were walking to the bus when a known teen offender from the same school approached, argued over a vape (“posh”), pulled a gun, and opened fire.

Eric was hit multiple times and died at University of Chicago Hospital. His girlfriend was shot in the leg and is in good condition.

Eric wasn’t some random victim. He was a kid trying to catch the bus home from school.

Just like thousands of other Chicago students do every single day.

One moment he’s arguing over a stupid vape, the next moment he’s bleeding out on the sidewalk. His girlfriend is lucky to be alive with a bullet in her leg.

This wasn’t deep in an alley at 2 a.m.
This was broad daylight at dismissal time.

And there were no cops at that stop. Why? Because the Chicago Teachers Union fought hard to pull police out of schools.

Now kids are paying the price with their lives.

When children get shot after school at a bus stop, that’s terrorism. That’s straight urban terrorism.

On the Ground: Contradictions in Plain Sight

Driving through the city Wednesday revealed stark contradictions.

Brand-new protected bike lanes with fresh concrete sit directly beside deeply potholed and crumbling streets. At Clark and Rosemont on the North Side, the contrast was impossible to ignore.

At the Howard Red Line station, open drug use continued in a nearby alley — right beside a parked Chicago police squad car — with officers taking no visible action.

Scanner traffic was heavy with fights and harassment at CTA stations, including Logan Square on the Blue Line.

Year-to-date, Chicago is already at 108 homicides in 2026 — that’s up from last year at this time.

Shootings are also trending up.

We’re not even halfway through the year and the body count is climbing again.

While the mayor and city council argue about tipped wages and bike lanes, the streets are getting worse.

New bike lanes get built overnight, but the roads kids walk home on look like war zones.

Interview with Chuy

Exclusive on-air interview, Jesus “Chuy” Campuzano — a prominent Chicago disability rights advocate, self-advocate leader, and member of the city’s Lived Experience Commission for people experiencing homelessness — offered a direct perspective on street encampments and proposed legislation that prohibits enforcement of local vagrancy laws.

When shown live footage of people living in tents, Campuzano said:

I’ll tell you this much … you go talk to those people right there. None of them want to live there.

He criticized the lack of real solutions:

We keep making lists for housing, but we don’t have enough housing … Where is the housing?

Campuzano stressed that simply tolerating encampments without support is not the answer.

He called for designated safe spaces with basic facilities and genuine housing options rather than tents on public land.

Meanwhile, Springfield continues to advance legislation that would prohibit local governments from fining or removing unsheltered individuals for “life-sustaining activities” on public property and would limit home-rule authority.

Illinois House Bill 1429 (HB1429), known as the Local Regulation of Unsheltered Homelessness Act, advances as of April 2026, aiming to restrict local governments from clearing homeless encampments from public spaces without notice.

The bill prevents cities and counties from fining or arresting people for “life-sustaining activities”—such as sleeping or resting—in public areas, specifically overriding local home rule authority on these matters.

The bill contains no new funding for housing or services.

Chuy has been in these streets for years. He’s seen it all. And even he says the people in those tents don’t want to live like that.

So why are we passing laws in Springfield that make it harder for the city to do anything about it?

House Bill 1429 basically tells local police and aldermen: ‘Hands off.’ You can’t ticket, you can’t clear, you can’t enforce — unless there’s an ‘imminent danger.’

Meanwhile, parks turn into campsites, alleys turn into shooting galleries, and neighborhoods suffer.

No new housing money.
No new treatment beds.
Just more rules that tie everyone’s hands.

Full Crime Blotter – April 15, 2026

Homicides: 3
Total Shooting Victims: 8
Police Officers Injured: 2

Person Shot … 2:13am … 7800 block S. Hamilton April 15, 2026 … 18-year-old male shot in right arm (good condition) (6th District)

Person Shot … 10:18pm … Unknown block April 14, 2026 … 27-year-old male walked into hospital with gunshot to left leg (fair condition) victim uncooperative (9th District)

Two Shot – Homicide … 3:23pm … 6300 block S. Stony Island April 15, 2026 … Two teens shot at bus stop; 16-year-old male multiple wounds (deceased) 16-year-old female shot in leg (fair condition) (3rd District)

Aggravated Battery, PO Injured … 4:41pm … 6400 block S. Evans April 15, 2026 … Two 15-year-old females battered officers during altercation; one officer face bruised (good condition) second officer bruised hip (declined treatment) two juveniles arrested (3rd District)

Person Shot … 6:14pm … 500 block N. Oakley Blvd. April 15, 2026 … 39-year-old male shot in right foot (fair condition) (12th District)

Homicide – Person Shot … 9:16pm … 8700 block S. Union April 15, 2026 … 44-year-old male in vehicle shot in eye and arm after argument with two males on foot (deceased) (22nd District)

Person Shot … 9:20pm … 7500 block S. St. Lawrence April 15, 2026 … 42-year-old male shot in foot (fair condition) victim uncooperative (6th District)

Homicide – Two Shot One Dead … 10:39pm … 7900 block S. St. Lawrence April 15, 2026 … Fight inside apartment led to shooting of a 31-year-old male: shot in neck (good condition) and a 30-year-old male: shot in leg (deceased) 3 handguns recovered (6th District)

Earlier incident (10:18 p.m. April 14) — 27-year-old male self-transported with gunshot to left leg, fair condition.

What Should Be

A late-afternoon stop at Hardigan Beach showed empty sand and quiet water.

It was a beautiful spring day.

That beach should have been full of teenagers laughing, playing, living normal kid lives.

Instead, one of them was lying dead at a bus stop on the South Side.

We have money for brand new bike lanes.
We have money for coffee shops.
We have money for city hall debates.

But we can’t keep kids safe getting home from school.

We can’t clear dangerous encampments.
We can’t even stop open drug use right next to cops.

They don’t care.

Image Drug addict dancing around Chicago Police after doing dugs in teh alley near Howard Red Line CTA drug dealing location April 15th 2026 SubX.News®

Editor’s Note This report is based on a live feed video drive on April 15 2026 and live broadcast radio police traffic and independent scanner feeds.

Two 16-year-old students shot, 1 fatally, at South Side bus stop near YMCA, Chicago police say 325pm https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-shooting-injures-2-teens-south-stony-island-avenue-woodlawn-cpd/18893393/

Chicago economy crime and migrant update 4pm April 15th 2026 https://youtu.be/gi00VBDh8mo

Cook County Sheriffs Inured by Juveniles 64th and Evans 441pm Apr 15 2026

Got foot patrol up here by the Howard Red Line must be an election coming up but he’s walking around there’s still people drug dealing and all doped up around here so I don’t know what he really is doing to prevent crime 600pm April 15th 2026 https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CmdwpM57w/

Drug addicts doing drugs right in the open here a few feet from a foot patrols at the Howard line 615pm April 15th 2026 https://x.com/SubxNews/status/2044567143690236233

Female teenagers caught stealing at the Target in downtown on State Street now fighting with the off duty officer that caught them 642pm April 15th 2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CfN4ErdRJ/

CTA Violence… Group harassing people at Logan square Blue Line don’t know how they’re at the train station but they’re even telling the cops to be careful 701pm Apr 15 2026 https://x.com/SubxNews/status/2044578951100527036

Bike lane corruption 635pm Clark and Rosemont Apr 15 2026

https://youtube.com/shorts/pHsmqOvenoU?si=inTccPIaO6MOGYwG

Male Shot and Killed 916pm 87th and Union Apr 15 2026 https://x.com/CCC_CrimeChaser/status/2044623699731525755

Police Involved Shooting 65th and Champlain 1050pm armed man was just shot & killed by Illinois State Police Apr 15 2026 https://x.com/CCC_CrimeChaser/status/2044648856726753505

SubX.News® On-the-Spot Reporting

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