A 23-year-old man was shot during a robbery in River North early Tuesday, police said. Two other people were robbed nearby around the same time, and police found a carjacked vehicle abandoned in the area. No one is in custody for the crimes, police said.
It all started when the 23-year-old was walking with several other people on the 400 block of North Wells around 3:01 a.m. That’s where the armed robber stepped out of a dark sedan and tried to rob him at gunpoint, police said.
The victim was shot as he struggled with the gunman, according to police. EMS took him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition with a gunshot wound to his left shoulder. Witnesses said the gunman fled in a red car.
Police arrested a man on the 400 block of North Wells who was in possession of a firearm and had blood on his shoes. But, based on CPD’s statement that no one is in custody for the shooting, it appears that he is not suspected of committing the crime.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man told police that they were robbed at gunpoint by a man who stepped out of a red sedan on the 200 block of West Ontario shortly after 3 a.m.
The robber took the victims’ property and drove away. Police said he is a Black male with dreadlocks.
Cops subsequently found a red car abandoned and running near the intersection of Kinzie and Wells. According to initial information, the vehicle was reported stolen in a previous carjacking, and someone put stolen license plates on it.
Area Three detectives are investigating the crimes. CWBChicago will post an update if prosecutors file charges against the man arrested for allegedly carrying a gun.
This morning’s shooting victim is the ninth person shot in the Near North (18th) Police District since last Wednesday. The district is bordered by Fullerton Avenue, the Chicago River, and Lake Michigan. In the earlier cases:
- A 35-year-old woman told police that she heard a loud sound on the 1800 block of North Clybourn around 9 p.m. last Wednesday night and later went to a hospital when she felt pain in her side and noticed bruising, a CPD spokesperson said. Doctors at Mt. Sinai determined the woman had metal fragments in her side, according to CPD. She was treated and released.
- A 23-year-old man was shot in the leg when someone fired shots from an SUV at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Cambridge Avenue around 1:15 a.m. Friday. People who live nearby said the intersection has been the scene of repeated drive-by shootings in recent weeks, but Friday’s victim was the first person to be hit by gunfire.
- Two people were shot Saturday afternoon when a gunman in a car opened fire on the occupants of another vehicle as they traveled west on Division Street from Orleans around 1:30 p.m. The intended target, a 32-year-old man, suffered gunshot wounds to his leg and torso and crashed outside the 18th District station. Police said a one-year-old boy who was in his car suffered cuts to the foot from broken glass. A 28-year-old woman who was not an intended target was shot in her right arm as she rode in another car along the shooting scene. Police found shell casings stretched along a half-mile of Division Street. Cops found a loaded handgun on the driver’s floorboard of the male victim’s car, according to a CPD report.
- Demetrius Reed and a 29-year-old woman were shot as they sat in car outside a Walgreens at Dearborn and Division at 3:35 a.m. Sunday. A man who was standing nearby was also shot by the gunfire, which police said may have come from a gray vehicle.
- On Sunday evening, a man was shot in the arm as he stood on the 1300 block of North Hudson in Old Town. Police did not immediately release the man’s age. Witnesses aid the gunfire may have come from a red sedan that sped from the scene.
You can support CWBChicago’s start-to-finish tracking of court cases by becoming a subscriber today!