Jewish Chicagoan recounts being shot on way to synagogue during City Hall antisemitism hearing
During the six-hour hearing on antisemitism held in City Hall by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Monday, one Jewish Chicagoan shared a harrowing story of being shot while on his way to synagogue in West Ridge last year.
Eitan Bleichman spoke clearly and steadily about the incident on October 26, 2024. He said he had risen, as he usually does, on that Saturday morning to go to synagogue as his family usually does. And, as usual, he roused his three daughters and told them to get ready for temple.
But services that week were coming on the heels of the three-day Simchat Torah celebrations and his daughters were tired, he said. Instead of making them come to temple, he said he decided to let them have a break and went to synagogue alone.
"I walked my usual route," he recalled, "when about two bocks before my destination I felt a hit on my left shoulder and fell to the ground."
Bleichman said he thought at first a tree branch had fallen on him, but as he started to get back up he realized there was a hole in the lapel of his suit jacket and blood coming through the hole.
"I realized I had been shot," Bleichman said.
When he looked around, he saw a young man running away. But when the man realized Bleichman had gotten p, he turned back to him and pointed his gun and opened fire again, shooting until the gun jammed.
Bleichman ran through the neighborhood, yelling for help, until neighbors took him in and called 911.
When paramedics arrived they brought him to an ambulance and put him on a gurney, treating him as they prepared to take him to a hospital for treatment. Then, to his surprise, the shooter returned. The man opened fire again, shooting at the first responders and striking the ambulance, Bleichman said.
"I remember being in the ambulance with [the first responders], and them being scared, saying nothing like this had ever happened to them," Bleichman said.
Bleichman was taken to the emergency room for treatment, and shortly after being examined heard that they were preparing for another gunshot victim. His first thought, he said, was that the shooter had managed to hit someone else. Instead, it turned out the new victim was the shooter himself, who ended up in the emergency room bay next to Bleichman, separated only by a thin curtain.
Bleichman said he had never interacted with the shooter, who came at him from behind. He said he was targeted solely because he was identifiably Jewish, wearing a suit and kippah on his way to synagogue.
"Antisemitism is so blinding that this man cowardly attacked a defenseless Jewish person from behind just because he was Jewish," he said. "He was further so blinded by his antisemitism that rather than trying to escape, he came back to fire at me again while I was defenseless on a gurney."
Bleichman said he has wondered what would have happened if his daughters had been with him that day, and if he'd have been able to protect them; what would have happened if the shooter's gun didn't jam during the first attack; and if his neighbors hadn't taken him in to help him and call 911.
"Antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem, it is an everyone problem," he said.
Jews make up only 3% of Chicago's population, but comprised 37% of crimes reported to Chicago police in 2024, according to CPD data. The police department said antisemitic hate crimes are up 58% in 2024 compared to 2023.