Dolton police investigate shooting that left 4 people wounded in parking lot of AutoZone

An investigation is underway after at least four people were shot outside an AutoZone in suburban Dolton, according to village trustee Andrew Holmes.

Dozens of evidence markers could be seen in the parking lot of the store near the intersection of Sibley Boulevard and Minerva Avenue, where witnesses said they heard gunshots and saw multiple people shot.

“I was surprised, you know, something like, this early,” witness Saul Mazon told NBC Chicago.

Mazon said he was riding his bike to the store Wednesday morning when he heard commotion nearby.

“There was a car flying, coming from Indiana; there’s another vehicle on the corner; and then they went inside [the parking lot of] AutoZone and started an argument," he said, "and that’s when they started shooting."

Dolton investigators spent the afternoon processing the crime scene, interviewing witnesses, and taking pictures as they tried to figure out what led to the shooting.

“I seen them pulling out of the car and into the ambulance,” Mazon said. “They [police] pulled out the machine guns they had in the vehicles.”

Another man working at the Hoagie Place right across the street was getting ready to open when he noticed a woman at the front door.

"I'm like, why is there a lady knocking on the door? I said, 'Ah, it’s just a customer,' then all I see [is] she’s on the car trying to cover herself, then she started running," witness Israel Martinez said. "I’m like, 'Why is she running,' and then my coworkers said, 'There’s gunshots, there’s gunshots.'”

Martinez and another coworker hid in the back room, unsure of what was going on.

“When we came in here, we kind of saw, like, people running,” he said. “One was going by Burger King. There was, like, people covering themselves.”

While police continue to investigate, witnesses like Mazon know he could have been caught in the middle of the shooting.

“Thank God I wasn’t walking through here when it happened,” Mazon said.