How Shotspotter impacted a Chicago murder case

CHICAGO — It's an unsolved murder at the center of Shotspotter debate.

Safarian Herring , 25, was fatally wounded the night of May 31, 2020. The shooting occurred amid citywide civil unrest, triggered by the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

Security cameras captured Herring inside an Auto Zone on South Stony Island Avenue that was being looted. It's believed he left around 11:30 p.m. and caught a ride with a man in his 60s, later identified as Michael Williams.

According to records, obtained by WGN Investigates , Williams drove Herring north on Stony Island. It's not clear where the men were heading.

But what is known is that near 63rd Street, Herring was shot in the head while still inside Williams' Toyota SUV.

"He didn't even have a chance," Lajuane Herring, Safarian's father, said.

After the shooting, Williams drove Herring to the hospital. But he left without speaking to police.

So, detectives were left with few clues or even address of where Herring was wounded.

More: Chicago aldermen, business leaders offer $2.5M to bring back ShotSpotter

Enter Shotspotter, the controversial gunshot detection system.

Hailed as a faster way to alert police about the location of gunfire, the technology's critics have accused it of leading to an increase in over policing in some neighborhoods.

Mayor Brandon Johnson campaigned on a promise to remove the system, which has cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. But some aldermen have objected.

In Herring's case, police concluded he was hit by gunfire at about 11:46 p.m. near 63rd and Stony Island, based on an initial Shotspotter report.

There's no video of the actual shooting. But surveillance cameras captured two vehicles – Williams' Toyota and what's believed to be a Dodge Charger – speed away from the intersection

Williams later told police the shot that hit Herring came from someone inside the Charger.

Authorities, however, charged Williams with murder.

In records reviewed by WGN Investigates, police alleged the surveillance video shows the Charger's windows were closed as it rolled through the intersection.

If that is true and a bullet was fired from inside the car, the windows would have been damaged.

Through his attorney, Williams declined an interview request.

But in 2022 he told WGN that police allegedly said, "Well, we have you. Shotspotter have you firing the gun."

Williams' attorney, Jonathan Manes, said police were wrong on multiple fronts.

Shotspotter can't pinpoint exactly where a gun was fired, only that a shot came from within a certain radius. What's more, Manes said his team's analysis of the same surveillance video shows the Charger's back window was open, not closed, as police alleged.

"The police had the video," Manes said. "They didn't look at it properly. They missed it."

Williams pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence, even as he spent nearly a year in Cook County Jail. Ultimately, prosecutors dropped the charges, citing a lack of evidence and questions about the accuracy about Shotspotter's data.

"Shotspotter gave police a lead in this case," Manes said. "But police did an absolutely terrible job of investigating it."

Williams is now suing the city of Chicago, claiming in a federal lawsuit that he was "falsely accused" "because police "used unreliable Shotspotter evidence to arrest and prosecute him."

Previous Coverage: Lawsuit: Chicago police misused ShotSpotter in murder case

In court filings, the city has denied the allegations.

Police are not currently investigating Herring's murder. They closed the case after Williams was charged. But Herring's father said he feels like there's been no closure.

"The hurtful thing is I wasn't there to protect him," he said.