The parking lot of a strip mall in south suburban Oak Forest turned into a crime scene late Sunday afternoon following the report of a shooting.
“Nothing like that has ever happened,” said Omar Abed, who works in one of the strip mall's stores. “It was literally quick on the spot.”
Police tape wrapped around a black Audi with dealer plates and on the ground more than a dozen evidence markers.
Abed, the manager of a smoke shop, said he was helping a customer when gunshots erupted.
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“One of my customers ran into the store screaming they had no idea what was really going on,” he said. “I got to the phone, called the cops, but when I looked out they were already storming the parking lot, so I guess there were four or five of them already parked right by the Dunkin Donuts.”
Oak Forest police officers spent hours investigating the shooting, but did not say if anyone was wounded or killed in the incident.
NBC 5 learned the male victim ran into a clothing store after being shot. Abed said he saw the victim, believed to be the driver of the Audi, being loaded into the ambulance.
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“He was on the stretcher, I don’t know if he made it or not,” he said. “There was a lot of people recording and stuff like that.”
Other witnesses told NBC 5 off camera the shooting prompted several stores to go on lockdown in the area, including a Walmart across the street.
The Oak Forest Police Department hadn't released information on the shooting as of late Sunday.
