Victim of fatal Chicago expressway shooting was loving father, entrepreneur, family says
CHICAGO (CBS) – The driver who was shot and killed on the Stevenson Expressway over the weekend was a well-known postal worker and a beloved father.
Damian Dunning's family said they were traumatized by his death. The 41-year-old had just dropped off his nephew at home after basketball practice on Sunday night when he was shot while behind the wheel.
Illinois State Police responded to a person shot on the northbound ramp to DuSable Lake Shore Drive just after 10:20 p.m. on Sunday. They found Dunning inside his car with a gunshot wound to his head. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.
As a U.S. postal worker, Dunning had a route near Midway Airport. He was well known in the community as a loving father and brother who was also an entrepreneur. He launched a music app last year.
The tragedy was the second for the family, who on Feb. 23 lost 43-year-old Loyce Wright, Dunning's cousin, and a security guard at a Family Dollar who was shot multiple times while on the job in the Austin neighborhood.
His alleged killer was later arrested and charged.
The Bellwood family told CBS 2 that their grief is insurmountable.
"You can't wrap your mind around it," said Roy Shannon, Dunning's brother. "It's just no way. It's senseless, pointless, because Damien wasn't bothering anyone. He was on his way home. He hadn't bothered anyone all day because he wasn't, I mean, he was at a basketball practice."
Robin Wright, Dunning's cousin, said her niece will graduate this year, and "he won't be there. She will have a senior night, and he won't be there, when he was always there."
The investigation into the fatal shooting was ongoing on Tuesday. Dunning's family said they don't believe it was a targeted attack and may have been an act of road rage.
