Jianru Zheng, 33, an Asian male, was shot and killed on the night of November 12, 2024, in Chicago's Chinatown. Around 10 p.m., officers responded to the 2400 block of South Normal Avenue and found two victims with gunshot wounds; Zheng was discovered with a wound to his back and could not be saved. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office later identified him and confirmed the manner of death as homicide by gunfire.
Another man, 32-year-old Faliang Gao, was also fatally wounded in the same incident. Both men lived on the block where the shooting occurred, lending a chilling intimacy to the violence that unfolded on a residential stretch of the neighborhood.
Investigators said the attack appeared to be a targeted armed robbery and may have taken place inside a home on the block. In the immediate aftermath, neighbors spoke of the shock and fear that rippled through the area as squad cars and ambulances filled the street. A local Chinese-language outlet reported that police believed the shootings were tied to a drug-related robbery, with one victim found in front of the residence and the other toward the rear, details that underscored how quickly the confrontation moved through the property.
Authorities released few specifics about the assailants. As of the days following the killings, police had not announced any arrests, and the case remained under investigation. Community memorial pages and gun-violence databases subsequently recorded Zheng's death alongside Gao's, keeping a public record of their names, ages, and the date and location of the crime while the search for those responsible continued.
