Man Fatally Shot By Robber In University Park During Online Sale Meet-Up
CHICAGO (CBS) – An online sale ended in the death of a man in the south suburbs on Thursday night.
Police say he was shot and killed during a robbery.
CBS 2's Susanna Song has more from south suburban University Park.
It appears to have been a set up and targeted attack.
The victim, 31-year-old Kevin Jarrett and a woman arranged to meet a potential buyer at an apartment building to sell a game system. Instead, police say the two were robbed.
University Park Police say the couple posted an ad on the website, letgo.com.
On Thursday night around 10:45 p.m., Jarett and the woman pulled up to the apartment, located in the 800 block of White Oak Lane in University Park. Three men met them, but what was supposed to be a purchase, turned into a robbery and the shooting of Kevin Jarrett.
After Jarrett was shot, he got back into the car and the woman he was with sped off. The car stopped about a block away and that is where police found the couple.
Jarrett, from Kankakee, died.
One neighbor said there is a reason he typically will not go on sites like Craiglist and LetGo.
"If I can't go to the store, meet no one especially at night, if I do, it will be early in the night and I won't be by myself," said neighbor William Hawkins.
The woman was not injured and is cooperating with police. She said the three men were dressed in black. Police said the apartment where the arrangement was to take place was empty.
Police said they have no one in custody as of Friday morning.
University Park Police Chief John Pate said they were contacted by letgo.com's law enforcement section on Friday morning.
"They are currently working with us to try and locate this young man's account to see who he was communicating with at the time to try and narrow down leads," Pate said.
LetGo released a statement Friday morning reading:
"This is an unimaginable tragedy. Our team is working with local law enforcement to assist with their investigation.
letgo's highest priority will always be the trust and safety of our users. That's why we've built things like in-app chat; user profiles, ratings and reviews; and account verification into the app. We also proactively share tips with users about how to buy and sell securely. Most importantly, we always encourage users to choose a public meeting place like a coffee shop, supermarket, bank lobby or shopping mall.
We use a combination of human and artificial intelligence to help moderate our marketplace. And we ask our user community to help us by flagging content or other users that raise concerns. When they do, we quickly take the appropriate action, which might include removing items and/or permanently blocking a user, in extremely rare cases where it's necessary."
Anyone with information on the shooting should go to the University Park Department, or call (708) 235-4803.
