Rideshare driver shot and killed, passenger injured on Near West Side

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A rideshare driver was killed and a passenger was injured after shots were fired at their vehicle Monday night on the Near West Side. 

As CBS 2's Sabrina Franza reported Tuesday, 31-year-old Lyft driver Milton Pillacela Ayora moved to the U.S. 15 years ago from Ecuador. His family said at the time of the shooting, he happened to be on the phone with his brother – who could hear the rounds of gunshots on the other line.

They think the shooter was after the passenger.

"You never know what you're going to get when you pick up a passenger," said Lenny Sanchez, director of the Illinois chapter of the Independent Drivers Guild and organizer for Justice for App Workers.

It was just after 9 p.m. Tuesday when Ayora and his and passenger were stopped at a red light at Roosevelt Road and Blue Island Avenue, close to St. Ignatius College Prep. Four men in a silver sport-utility vehicle pulled up and fired shots. 

Ayora was shot in the torso and was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital of Cook County.

The 34-year-old male passenger was shot in the legs and taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition.

Following the shooting, countless evidence markers were scattered along the ground, and a cellphone was seen lying nearby. There were bullet holes in the door of Ayora's car. The crime scene was extensive.

On Tuesday afternoon, a memorial of flowers and prayer candles was set up along the wrought-iron fence in front of the landscaped garden that sets off St. Ignatius' Gentile Gym from Roosevelt Road.

Meanwhile, this was not the first attack we have told you about involving a rideshare driver. We have been covering such attacks for months.

"You're sometimes picking up somebody that has the intention of either scamming you for your earnings, or trying to rob you of your belongings - or in this case, they're using you to evade a crime," Sanchez said.

Advocates for rideshare drivers tell us news like this does not get any easier.

"These are good individuals - hardworking, honest people that are taking these risks and have to deal with the aftermath of it - and these families that have to pick up the pieces afterwards," Sanchez said. "It's just heartbreaking."

We have reached out to Lyft for a response for this, and have not heard back.

Police late Tuesday were still looking for the four men in that gray SUV. Chicago Police have not confirmed if the passenger was the intended target.