A police report has identified the University of Chicago graduate who was shot and killed Tuesday in Hyde Park as 24-year-old Shaoxiong “Dennis” Zheng.
Zheng graduated from the university with a master’s degree in statistics this year after attending the University of Hong Kong for his undergraduate education, according to his LinkedIn page.
Just before Zheng was killed, two witnesses said they saw a man in a mask and a black hooded sweatshirt get out of a black sports car at 956 E. 54th Place around 2 p.m. Tuesday, the police report said.
Zheng was walking on the sidewalk when the masked man approached him. The witnesses said there was a brief struggle before the man shot him in the chest, ran back to his car and drove away.
Another man at the scene performed CPR on Zheng until paramedics arrived. Zheng then was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:13 p.m., officials said.
The University of Chicago Tuesday confirmed that Zheng was a recent graduate and said it was a “deeply painful day for our community and our city.”
Paul Alivisatos, the president of the University of Chicago, said in a video message Wednesday that Zheng was killed “in the course of a robbery” and that the community would gather soon “to remember him and to honor his life.”
The university also released a statement Tuesday that mentioned another example of gun violence in Hyde Park near the university’s Polsky Center and Harper Court. Though shots were fired, no one was injured, the statement read.
“Our city struggles with many of the same issues of violence that afflict all large cities in the U.S. Unless we can meet that challenge together, our communities will not truly feel safe,” the statement said.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle released a statement acknowledging the “brazen acts of gun violence in broad daylight” in Hyde Park, but also recognized the 50 people shot over the past weekend in multiple Chicago neighborhoods.
“We know the violence that has occurred in neighborhoods this week is a microcosm of what’s been happening week after week in our communities,” Preckwinkle said. “We need an immediate and urgent response to the violence as well as a long-term plan to address those root causes of violence.”
A University of Chicago police officer approaches area residents at a fatal shooting scene in the 900 block of East 54th Place in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Nov. 9, 2021. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
According to Preckwinkle, there have been 735 homicides in Chicago this year, nearly 100 more than at the same point last year. Zheng is also not the first University of Chicago student to succumb to gun violence this year.
Yiran Fan, a promising 30-year-old graduate student, died during a random shooting spree in January. He was posthumously awarded a Ph.D. in financial economics in June.
Max Lewis, a 20-year-old student who was hit by a stray bullet while sitting on a Green Line train in July, died three days later, officials said. Lewis double majored in economics and computer science and was president of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
University officials said they “have been in close contact with Mayor (Lori) Lightfoot, Chicago Police Department Superintendent (David) Brown and other members of the Mayor’s team, along with local aldermen,” regarding public safety strategies for Hyde Park and nearby communities.
Check back for updates.
Chicago Tribune reporters Paige Fry, Jeremy Gorner and Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas contributed.
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