Two men are dead after they were both shot in the chest by an assailant who then fled the scene in a vehicle belonging to one of the victims, sending shockwaves through Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.
A third shooting was reported on an area expressway a short-time later, with the victims saying they were shot by a person in a brown Buick SUV that was stolen from the scene of one of the fatal shootings Wednesday morning.
One of the victims, 41-year-old Miguel Padilla, was standing in front of his car in the 2300 block of North Keystone on Wednesday morning at approximately 1 a.m. when a man ran up to him and began to fight with him.
Padilla was shot in the chest during the altercation, and was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The suspect then fled the scene in Padilla’s vehicle.
Lourdes Rivera says she considered Padilla to be like a son to her, and was devastated to hear that he had been killed.
“This is just very sad. It breaks my heart,” she said.
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Rivera says she spoke to Padilla’s mother after the shooting, which left her completely distraught.
“She was always there for him, and that’s what she wanted him to know,” she said. “She loved him very deeply, and he’s truly going to be missed.”
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The suspect that killed Padilla was likely fleeing the scene of another fatal shooting, this one in the 3900 block of West Fullerton. According to police, a 25-year-old man was sitting at a bus stop when the suspect approached him.
After a brief argument, the suspect pulled out a gun and shot the man in the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa says that the motive in the shootings appears to be robbery, and says that residents are understandably frightened by the brutal crimes.
“It’s very frightening,” he said. “I hope if anyone has information related to these incidents that they come forward and let the police know.”
The two shootings came just one day after three gang-related shootings occurred in the same neighborhood.
Amid an escalation in violence, Rivera says that she hopes that the killer will come forward, and that he will be brought to justice.
“If you have a heart in your body, and you know you did wrong, come up and confess it,” she said.