'That Is A Squatter House' - Many Questions After A Double Shooting In Dolton
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There's more about the troubled past of a south suburban home where a mother and her son were both shot Thursday morning.
The shooting is being blamed on a squatter who took up residence in an empty home owned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But there are federal records blaming the overall performance of the management company HUD hired to oversee that property.
Blasts from a shotgun echoed thru the Dolton neighborhood just before 3:30 Thursday morning. But some said it was no secret the shooter's home was trouble.
"That is a squatter house. That's not a resident that lives there," said Village Trustee Tiffany Henyard. "That's someone took over someone's house without their permission."
Police said a 30-year-old male squatting inside the home opened the door to find his 40-year-old ex-girlfriend demanding her cellphone.
"And then re-entered the home, slammed the door, then reappeared with a shotgun firing multiple times, hitting both victims," said Dolton Mayor Riley Rogers.
The ex-girlfriend and her 19-year-old son. Mayor Rogers insisted the home had drawn few complaints.
"I don't have any previous reports of it being a problematic address," Rogers said.
"The mayor's lying," Heynerd said. "People have complained about this property several times."
Henyard and Valeria Stubbs, both Bolton trustees, highly critical of Mayor Rogers, charge his administration all but ignored warning signs. But records showed the home is owned by HUD and overseen by Florida-based PK Management Group.
"There has to be a legal action to take these people out," Rogers said. "The owner is responsible for the eviction of those people that are in those homes."
An attorney for PK Managment said "we obtained an eviction order and placed it with the sheriff for execution and removal of any individuals in the property." Now the company is awaiting a court order for the sheriff to evict the squatters.
But in a 2016 report, HUD's Inspector General also criticized PK Management for failing to properly maintain 105 HUD properties and for overcharging the agency.
Police are still searching for the shooter. The two victims are in critical but stable condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center.