While Chicago saw a slight decrease in homicides in 2014, communities such as Humboldt Park-where gang recruitment has turned deadly-and Rogers Park saw a jump in slayings even as some South Side areas marked double-digit declines in killings, according to police data.
Of the 400-plus homicides in 2014, the Austin community area on the West Side logged the most killings-36-while 15 of Chicago's 77 community areas didn't report a homicide last year, according to RedEye data from police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, which performs autopsies.
Some West Side communities saw an increase in homicides, while sections of the North Side and downtown also recorded more homicides than usual, including high-profile shootings at a Loop office building, a Nordstrom store downtown and outside a River North club hosting a Lollapalooza after-party.
There were 434 reported homicides in Chicago last year, down 1.6 percent from 441 killings in 2013, according to a RedEye analysis. That differs from what Chicago police reported in recent days. The department released statistics that showed the city logged 407 homicides in 2014, down 2.9 percent compared with 419 killings in 2013.
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Chicago police said the 2014 toll is the lowest number of homicides they've recorded since the 395 homicides they counted in 1965. The 2014 total also continues the recent trend of years of homicide totals between 400 and 500 killings except in 2012, when an unusually high total of 522 homicides were reported, according to RedEye data.
The Chicago police count of 407 killings for last year does not include the October death of Steven LaVoie, who was shot in the head and stomach in July by his co-worker in their Loop office, police spokesman Marty Maloney said. Maloney said police believe the case will be classified as a murder but "a few additional investigative steps are being taken to confirm this because there were no witnesses to the incident."
RedEye's number also does not include fatal police shootings but does include killings made in self-defense. The RedEye number is based on Medical Examiner rulings.
The killings declined slightly last year in part because of Chicago police department intelligence gathering, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said. Police officers visit the homes of gang members they believe could become shooters based on their background and let them know they are watching them.
But while the city recorded fewer homicides, it saw a jump in the number of people wounded or killed in shootings-from 2,272 people shot in 2013 to 2,599 people shot last year.
McCarthy blamed the 14 percent increase in shootings on the proliferation of illegal guns circulating in the city. Chicago police last year recovered 7,000 illegal guns, a number that "defines the challenges" the department faces in lowering crime, McCarthy said.
"We haven't changed the gang culture," McCarthy said at a recent press conference about crime numbers. "The reason shootings are up in those neighborhoods is because there are so many guns."
There were nine more gunshot homicides last year versus 2013, according to RedEye data. The West Side community of Humboldt Park, which counted about 56,300 residents in the 2010 Census, saw one of the greatest increases in homicides last year compared with 2013, most of them shootings.
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Humboldt Park-which is loosely bounded by Bloomingdale Avenue to the north, Kinzie Street to the south, Kedzie Avenue to the east and Kenton Avenue to the west-reported 25 homicides last year, up from 14 homicides in 2013, according to RedEye data.
Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., whose 27th ward includes part of Humboldt Park, told RedEye recent killings stem from rival gangs fighting over tactics used to recruit members. The West Side community of West Garfield Park, which counted 18,000 residents in the 2010 Census, reported 20 homicides this year, versus 16 killings in 2013, according to RedEye data.
Farther east, in River North, the 800 block of North Orleans Street saw two separate homicides this year. A 29-year-old man was stabbed to death there in November, three months after a 32-year-old man was fatally shot after getting into an argument outside Bodi nightclub, which was hosting a Lollapalooza after-party, according to officials.
On the far North Side, Rogers Park logged eight killings last year, double the number in 2013. The most recent homicide there was a 23-year-old Loyola University student shot and killed during an armed robbery, according to officials.
Meanwhile, some of the success stories this year were on the South Side, including declines in killings in South Shore, from 31 homicides in 2013 to 16 homicides last year, and West Pullman, from 20 killings in 2013 to seven killings last year, according to RedEye data.
Larry Watson, police commander of the 5th District, which covers West Pullman, recently told RedEye the decrease in killings is the result of community members offering tips to police as well as officers visiting potential shooters as part of a police initiative to curb crime.
"[This] year, we are still trying to maintain alliances we have and build on them," Watson said. "Hopefully we can make it uncomfortable for a lot of these guys to operate in the area."
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Tribune reporter Rosemary Sobol contributed.