A man was critically injured in a shooting on a CTA Red Line train near Chicago's South Loop early Wednesday morning.

Just before 4:30 a.m., CTA officials said a 29-year-old man got into a fight with another man on a southbound Red Line train in the 1100 block of South State Street. The other man fired shots, hitting the 29-year-old in the thigh and buttocks.

The victim was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. The shooter got off the train at the Roosevelt stop and ran away south on State Street.

The stretch of Roosevelt in the South Loop where the shooting happened is known for issues, and Ald. Bill Conway (34th) said he has worked with the Cook County Sheriff's Office to open a staffed substation just yards away.

"I can tell you that there will be additional sheriff's officers in that building. It's not just going to be some informational center," he said.

Conway said the substation is due to be up and running this summer.

"It's no secret that Chicago Police Department is stretched thin," he said. "So as a result, I reached out to the sheriff's office to provide additional presence there. I am grateful that that is going to be happening in the next couple of weeks."

Conway said he's met with CPD leadership about this case and believes the two men knew each other before the shooting.

Police scanner traffic reveals officers described the shooter as wearing a red baseball cap, pink shirt, light blue jeans and white shoes, and that officers reviewing surveillance video believe the shooter threw his gun away in a garbage can on the Roosevelt station platform.

No arrests have been made and an investigation by Area Three detectives is ongoing.  

The shooting was the sixth so far this year on a CTA train, platform, or train station; compared to two in the same time period in 2024, and 3 each during the same time period in 2023 and 2022 – though still a rarity when compared to the tens of millions of rides completed each year.

• Chicago