University Of Chicago Graduate Shot And Killed During Robbery Attempt In Hyde Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A recent graduate of the University of Chicago was shot and killed during a robbery attempt Tuesday afternoon in the Hyde Park neighborhood, just steps away from campus.
Police said a 24-year-old man was on the sidewalk on the 900 block of East 54th Place shortly before 2 p.m. – when out of nowhere, a vehicle pulled up, and a gunman jumped out and demanded his property.
The attacker then shot the victim in the chest, got back in the vehicle, and fled the scene. It was not clear whether he even took anything.
The victim was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, the calmness returned to the Hyde Park community with nightfall late Tuesday. A constant stream of police have gone on patrolling at the corner of 54th Place and Ellis Avenue trying to figure out how the deadly robbery happened.
"I just heard this loud pop, then I heard 10 seconds later, there's a car taking off - really fast," a neighbor said. "You could hear the tires screeching."
The sounds of the gunman's car speeding away stood out after the deadly attempted robbery. The 24-year-old recent University of Chicago grad was left bleeding on the sidewalk.
"I saw the corner, then a body lying on the street, sidewalk - and a person performing CPR," the neighbor said. "It was our neighbor, so I went over, and his hands were covered in blood."
Neighbors attempted to stop the bleeding, but were unsuccessful. The man did not survive the shot to his chest at close range.
"It's not regular," said resident John Okafo. "You don't just shoot someone on the chest; for what? A phone? What is equivalence of life? So it just doesn't add up to me."
Hearing the gunman pulled up in a car, jumped out, and targeted the victim left many stunned.
"It's right outside my apartment, so it's scary," said one of U of C student. "I walk down here every day."
The corner of 54th Place and Ellis Avenue is just steps from the U of C's campus. Between 57th and 59th streets, Ellis Avenue marks the western boundary of the Main Quadrangle, while the Crerar Science Quadrangle is located on the opposite side of the street.
Campus buildings line Ellis Avenue for another two blocks going north from the Main Quadrangle too. The Ratner Athletics Center is located on Ellis Avenue at 55th Street, a mere half block south of the scene of the deadly shooting.
The scene of the shooting is also about a block just a block away from Kozminski Career Academy, a Chicago Public Schools elementary school.
The area is busy, especially at 2 p.m. on a weekday. University of Chicago police also patrol the site where the shooting happened as well as Chicago Police. Thus, everyone is uneasy.
"It's pretty safe here, so this is a very, very surprising thing to us," the first neighbor said.
Area One detectives are investigating, and police are reviewing video from numerous surveillance cameras in the area.