Charles Senase’s family is seeking additional neighborhood video as police investigate the shooting on West 18th Place.
CHICAGO, Ill. — Detectives are investigating the fatal shooting of a 35-year-old man on a front porch on Chicago’s Lower West Side as his family circulates surveillance footage they believe shows the gunman approaching the home and fleeing after the attack.
Family members identified the victim as Charles Senase, a husband and father of three. Chicago police said he was sitting on a porch in the 2300 block of West 18th Place shortly before 7 p.m. Monday when a vehicle approached. Someone got out, fired at Senase and left the area. Senase was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.
Surveillance video obtained by Senase’s family appears to show a man leaving a gray vehicle, walking toward the residence and opening fire before returning to the vehicle and driving away, FOX 32 Chicago reported. Police had not released a description of a suspect as of Thursday, and authorities had not announced an arrest.
The video has become a focus for Senase’s relatives as they seek information about who carried out the shooting. The family is asking people living nearby to review home surveillance recordings for images of the vehicle or person seen around the time of the attack. Police have not publicly said whether the family-released footage has led detectives to identify a suspect.
Senase’s family said he had been sitting outside taking a college test when he was shot. His wife said the family had returned to Chicago only weeks earlier after Senase was accepted into college. That account adds a personal dimension to the killing, but police have not indicated that his studies were connected to the attack.
Authorities also have not disclosed a possible motive. Police accounts released after the shooting established that a vehicle pulled up and a person got out before firing at the man on the porch, but investigators have not said whether the shooting was targeted or whether Senase had any known connection to the attacker.
Senase’s mother was inside the residence when the gunfire erupted, according to his family. Relatives have since gathered around the home, where a memorial developed following his death. His wife said the loss leaves their three children without their father at a time when the family had been planning its future after returning to Chicago.
News reports have described the area of the shooting as part of the Lower West Side, with FOX 32 identifying Senase’s home as being in Pilsen and another local report describing the location as Heart of Chicago. All accounts place the attack in the 2300 block of West 18th Place.
Area Three detectives remain responsible for the investigation. No one had been reported in custody, and police had not publicly announced a suspect, motive or other major break in the case by Thursday.
Author note: Last updated September 3, 2026.