2 boys found shot dead in Chicago alley just after attempted auto theft is reported
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two 14-year-old boys were shot and killed Sunday in the Chatham community.
Their bodies were found in an alley.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported, Chicago Police on Monday were still looking for the shooter. CBS 2 has learned the shooting could be connected to car thefts in the area.
Molina talked to people who live in the area, who say they're hearing gun shots and seeing cars stolen constantly.
But to have two teenagers killed and left in an alley? Neighbors say something needs to happen to address this in Chicago.
Around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, dispatch audio indicated that someone had called police upon hearing 14 shots from a block over. The shots rang out in the alley behind 89th Place off Cottage Grove Avenue.
This was in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon.
One of the teens who was shot and killed was identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as Rashad Dorsey. The other remained unidentified late Monday afternoon.
Andrew Boone lives feet away. He said he still can't believe it.
"So when I came past, you know, I seen the bodies laying on the ground," Boone said. "I thought they was grown. No, I didn't know that they was 14 until like a little later."
But the first calls that came in to police in the area were about something else.
"This one is coming in as an auto theft in progress," a dispatcher was heard saying. "A hysterical female states a man is stealing her car."
The 911 caller described four teens as being the ones behind the attempted auto theft.
"Fourteen to 15 years of age, who are trying to steal the neighbor's vehicle out of the alley," the dispatcher was heard saying. "They're all wearing black hoodies; unknown weapons. They did use something to break the window."
Dispatch audio indicated that the two teenage boys who were shot were believed to be possible offenders in the attempted auto theft.
Chicago Police would not say if the two boys shot were indeed involved in the attempted car theft, if there are other crimes connected to the deadly shooting, or if they've identified the shooter. Police only said they were still investigating.
But Boone said there is a serious problem with auto thefts in the neighborhood.
"They're coming out early in the morning or late - just prowling," he said. "People in the neighborhood, you would see yhat they come out and check on their cars. That's how bad it is."
Cars are being targeted in this neighborhood constantly, according to Boone.
"Like back to back to back to back," he said. "The other day I was on my way to work, and they were trying to steal a lady's car from the church."
And while we don't know if the two boys killed in the alley were involved, we do know they are now among the 54 children shot and killed in Chicago this year between 12 and 17 years old.
Boone said he would like to see more for teenagers to get involved in – so as to keep them away from the constant crime he's seeing in his own neighborhood.
"They need to get them in some type of programs where they can work and get some money," he said. "I feel like if you're getting some money, your mind won't be just wasting time."