J’Varus McKnight, 32, was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest on the 2200 block of West Cortland Street, near Ehrler Park in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood, in the early dark of Saturday, June 28, 2025. Chicago Fire Department crews reached the scene around 3 a.m. after multiple calls; he was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital and pronounced dead. The Cook County medical examiner later identified him as J’Varus McKnight.

Police said Area Five detectives are investigating and that no one was in custody as of the last reports. Officers searched the park perimeter and the block for cameras and shell casings; witnesses weren’t immediately available and initial accounts noted no one remained at the park after the calls.

Does anyone who was in the Bucktown area that night have observations or video that could help explain what happened?