Chicago police say a group armed with handguns took cash from a Thorntons station in Brighton Park before opening fire, the third serious armed incident reported at the location since 2023
A 36-year-old man was shot dead during an armed robbery at a Chicago petrol station in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Chicago police said a group carrying handguns entered the Thorntons station off the Stevenson Expressway, in the 3400 block of South California Avenue in Brighton Park, and demanded money from the register. Shots were fired at the man as the group left with cash, and he died at the scene. No arrests have been made, and Area One detectives are investigating.
What police have said so far
The force gave the time of the robbery as 2:52 a.m. on Tuesday, 25 August 2026. According to ABC7 Chicago, the victim was struck by several bullets rather than a single shot. No other injuries were reported.
Much about the case remains unclear. Police have not released the man’s name, and public reporting has not yet established whether he was a customer, an employee, a bystander or connected to the group carrying out the robbery. Authorities have also not put out descriptions of the attackers, details of any getaway vehicle, the amount of money taken, or surveillance images.
A location with a violent recent history
Tuesday’s killing is at least the third serious armed incident reported at the same station in just over three years.
Shortly before 3 a.m. on 31 March 2023, two men armed with handguns took money from the register there, according to CBS News Chicago. The robbery came during a run of overnight convenience-store hold-ups, though police did not confirm whether the cases were linked.
On 3 September 2024, four attackers chased a 25-year-old man into the station, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Two gunmen opened fire, critically wounding the man they had pursued and one employee, while a second employee was taken to hospital in good condition. Surveillance footage from that attack reportedly showed two suspects dressed entirely in black. The station closed temporarily afterwards and its front entrance was boarded up.
A customer who was inside during the 2024 shooting told CBS News Chicago that bullets struck windows and that gunfire continued as he made his escape through the store.
Citywide figures point the other way
The killing sits against a backdrop of falling robbery numbers across Chicago. Police data covering the first seven months of 2026, reported by WTTW Chicago, showed robberies down 26 per cent year on year and violent crime overall down 9 per cent.
Shooting victims, however, have not followed the same pattern. The same figures recorded 1,055 shooting victims through July 2026, marginally above the 1,039 logged over the equivalent period in 2025.
A separate analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice found robberies in Chicago fell 28 per cent in the first half of 2026, while homicides rose 3 per cent and gun assaults remained around 1 per cent above their 2019 level.
What remains unanswered
Because the shooting happened only hours ago, no arrest, suspect description, medical examiner identification or further official statement had been published at the time of writing. Also outstanding are the number of people involved in the robbery, any surveillance footage, the sum stolen, whether the incident is connected to other robberies, and what security measures were introduced at the station following the 2024 shooting.
