Interstate shootings drop to 6-year low, state police say

After a pandemic-fueled surge in road rage that made major Chicago-area roadways at times feel like a shooting gallery, reports of gunfire on Illinois interstates fell last year to their lowest levels since at least 2019, state police said this week.

The 61 shootings reported last year were 31% lower than the 89 in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive year of declining numbers, state data shows.

It also was the first year in a decade without a fatal interstate shooting, according to state police. There were, however, 13 injuries reported.

Compare that to 2021, when 310 shootings claimed 28 lives and led to another 133 injuries. That was more than double the shootings reported in 2020, and led to passage of the Expressway Camera Act, which provided funding to increase the number of cameras along expressways in Cook County.

What’s behind the turnaround?

State police point to a number of actions, including the installation of hundreds of cameras and automated license plate readers authorized by the act. License plate readers help investigators identify and track down vehicles that may have been involved in or witnessed a shooting, but are far from the scene by the time law enforcement authorities arrive, police say.

According to the ISP’s 2025 Expressway Camera Act annual report, there were 579 license plate reading cameras operated by the state on interstates and state highways as of last year. The majority are in Cook County and along I-90, I-290, I-55, I-94, the Bishop Ford Expressway, and I-57.

They also note the use of aircraft to monitor the expressways from above. Those air patrols allow police to track vehicles and individuals fleeing from a crime scene without risking a high-speed pursuit that can result in a fatal crash, officials said.

“When faced with a surge of violence on Illinois interstates, ISP took immediate action, dedicating personnel, technology, Air Operations, K9 units, forensics, and investigative expertise, successfully decreasing the number of shootings,” state police Director Brendan F. Kelly said in the announcement of the 2025 numbers.

“Our multifaceted approach has proven to be effective, but as crime evolves, so will we in order to keep our communities safe,” he added.​ ​ ​

Money back

Some criminal defendants in Cook County may find a check in their mailbox.

Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County is refunding overpayments of fees for court-ordered probation, supervision and community service.

A spokesman said that, during a review of the office’s nonjudicial departments, they found a “technical issue” in the probation department’s case-management system that had prevented the overpayments from being refunded.

Anybody with questions about fee overpayments should contact the probation department’s fee unit at (773) 674-8000, or by email to fee.unit@cookcountyil.gov.

Close to settlement

A federal lawsuit against the village of Carol Stream and six of its police officers, over the fatal shooting of a man, is close to being settled, according to court records.

Lawyers for the village and Isaac Goodlow III’s family told a judge Tuesday that they are finalizing the language of a settlement agreement. The two sides met with a mediator in November, and accepted his recommendation, according to court records.

Goodlow, 30, was killed early in the morning of Feb. 3, 2024, in his bedroom. Police said they were called to the apartment by a woman reporting Goodlow had attacked her. They met her in the parking lot and entered the apartment about 50 minutes later.

Goodlow’s family contends he was asleep at the time. But DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, who reviewed an investigation into the shooting, said Goodlow was behind a bedroom door. Goodlow did not have a gun on him.

Berlin declined to prosecute the police officer who shot Goodlow, but he also refused to deem the shooting justified.

The lawsuit said the police department had a policy and practice of using excessive force and doing illegal raids. It also accused the police department of inadequately training its officers in the use of force.

The parties are due back in court Feb. 24.

• Do you have a tip or a comment? Email us at copsandcrime@dailyherald.com.