Brian A. Oneal, 23, was fatally shot in Chicago on April 22, 2012. His death came during a year that saw a sharp rise in homicides in the city, with 2012 recording 506 homicides, an increase from the previous year.

Contemporaneous commentary linked the spike to several factors: an unusually warm start to the year that put more people on the streets, and changes in policing after Garry McCarthy became superintendent in May 2011. Those changes included disbanding specialized units that had focused on gangs and violent hot spots, a shift some observers associated with more violence in neighborhoods that had been closely monitored.

Brian Oneal’s shooting was one of many incidents that underscored the complexity of Chicago’s violence that year and the pressure on law enforcement to respond. If anyone knew Brian, where he spent time that spring, or has information about the shooting, please come forward.