Man Fatally Shot In Pace Paratransit Van In Avalon Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 50-year-old man was shot and killed Tuesday morning inside a Pace paratransit minivan during an attempted robbery at an Avalon Park gas station.
Norman White, 50, used to be a Pace driver, and had pulled up to the Citgo gas station at 83rd and Stony Island early Tuesday to talk to the driver of a Pace paratransit van parked at the station.
Around 3:15 a.m., a masked man walked up to White, demanded his cell phone, and pushed him into the Pace van, possibly to conceal the robbery. The gunman shot White three times -- in the right arm, chest, and back.
White was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
White's two sisters and stepmother stopped by the gas station later Tuesday morning to get answers.
"He was a former worker for Pace, and he saw another worker, and he got out of the car. She got out of the car, or something, went into the gas station. He was watching her purse, and they just came up and robbed him for his cell phone," said his sister, Juanita White. "I just wish they'd just turn themselves in. It was a senseless killing; senseless killing, took my brother away from his family."
The shooting likely was recorded on one of the many surveillance cameras at the gas station. The owner handed over his videos to police.
Pace spokeswoman Maggie Daly Skogsbakken said the agency is "deeply saddened by the shooting."
"At this time, we are focusing our efforts on supporting those involved and assisting law enforcement's investigation in any way we can. We are able to report that the vehicle was not in service, no passengers were on board at the time of the incident, and our contractor's employee was not harmed. We ask that all inquiries be directed to the Chicago Police Department, who have our full cooperation," she said in an email.
Area South detectives were investigating. No one was in custody Tuesday morning.
