Some residents say the initially increased police presence here in Rogers Park has since diminished. So, they are watching each others backs.
Nearly two weeks after the execution-style murders police say they have credible leads but no arrests. Some in the neighborhood are still gripped with terror.
“There’s some of us that are going out that think people are kind of returning to normalcy but there’s a lot of people in this community that are still scared that don’t even want to go out of their house," resident Jason Saini said.
At the lake front bike path near Loyola Park, candles and flowers mark the spot where 24-year-old Eliyahu Moscowitz was killed. He was shot in the head at point-blank range around 10:20 p.m. Oct. 1.
Just 36 hours earlier 73-year-old Douglas Watts was shot and killed while walking his dogs in the 1400 block of West Sherwin Avenue.
Police say both murders were “committed with the same weapon, likely by the same individual” seen in surveillance images.
The killings galvanized residents like Saini create block groups on Facebook. A place for residents to get support, connect, and find walking partners.
“There were privacy concerns so I thought, lets shrink it to a block level," he said. "Lets get our local blocks together, get everybody to meet and so we can kind of coordinate those walks and everybody can look out for each other."
Saini says that since the murders people have become more vigilant. They are more aware and watching out for one another.
“Like a lot of murders unfortunately that happen in Chicago it may not get solved at all so, a lot of these support networks that we’re putting together in the community might have to sustain us for quite some time," he said.
Saini says other block groups have since popped up. Hundreds are connected in the private groups. He says they will remain connected as long as people fill uneasy.
