5 Shot, 4 Fatally, In Suburbs This Weekend
(STMW) -- Five men have been wounded -- four fatally -- in shootings in south and west suburbs this weekend. Two of the shootings happened in south suburban Harvey and another involved an off-duty Chicago police officer in west suburban Maywood.
According to a Fraternal Order of Police spokesman, the off-duty Chicago officer shot and killed one of two men who allegedly attacked him after the officer crashed his motorcycle, clipping a young girl who darted into a Maywood street late Saturday.
The officer -- a 43-year-old, eight-year veteran of the force -- was headed home about 10:30 p.m. when the incident began, Fraternal Order of Police Spokesman Pat Camden said. He was driving northbound on First Avenue in Maywood near Madison Street when he saw a young girl, possibly 3 or 4 years old, suddenly dart into the street.
Camden said to avoid hitting the girl head-on, the officer purposely ditched his motorcycle, putting it on its side on the pavement while it was still moving. The motorcycle slipped past the girl, leaving her with abrasions and contusions, he said.
Camden said that as the officer stood up from the pavement, a man approached him "shouting and screaming" and punched him in the face after the officer identified himself as police.
The suspect and another man continued to beat the officer, punching him in his head and kicking him in his head and body on the ground before the officer fired, fatally striking one of the men, Camden said. The man, in his mid-20s, was dead at the scene, he said.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed the fatality but said the man -- identified as Christopher Middleton, 26, of the 500 block of South 2nd Avenue -- was pronounced dead at 10:14 p.m. at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
The girl was taken to an area hospital for observation overnight, but suffered no life-threatening injuries, Camden said. The officer is expected to recover from his injuries, but was left with contusions to his head and body from the attack, and a possible broken leg and broken shoulder from the crash.
Maywood police arrested the other suspect, also in his mid-20s, according to Camden. Maywood officials have not commented as of Sunday morning.
In Harvey, a 29-year-old man suffered a fatal gunshot to the head and two others were hurt when a shooting followed an argument that erupted at a sports bar early Saturday.
Kevin Guice of Riverdale was pronounced dead at Ingalls Memorial Hospital at 1:40 a.m. on Saturday, the medical examiner's office said. At 12:45 a.m., Guice was at the Press Box Club, located at 15420 Dixie Highway in Harvey, when he began arguing with the suspect, according to a source.
The suspect left the sports bar, waited until Guice exited, and fired into a crowd of people, fatally shooting Guice and wounding a second person, the source said. An autopsy found that Guice died from a gunshot to the head, according to the medical examiner's office.
A third person was run over while the suspect was fleeing the scene in a vehicle, the source said.
Samora Hicks, who identified herself as Guice's sister, said Guice was defending himself from an attacker who yelled that he would shoot everyone after an argument between multiple groups in the club. Hicks said at least 6 shots were fired before her brother was hit. "He was a peacemaker," Hicks said.
Early Sunday in Harvey, 23-year-old Anthony Curtis was fatally shot in the 15400 block of Vine Avenue. He was taken to Ingalls Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:40 a.m., the medical examiner's office said.
In Richton Park, a teenage boy was shot and killed early Sunday. He was fatally shot in the 5000 block of Euclid Ln. in Richton Park, and pronounced dead at the scene at 4 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The boy is thought to be in his teens, but remained unidentified as of Sunday morning, according to the medical examiner's office.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
