CHICAGO — A 56-year-old man was fatally shot early Monday in Englewood.
Police discovered the man unresponsive at 12:43 a.m. Monday in the 1500 block of West 72nd Street with a gunshot wound in his head, said Officer Hector Alfaro, a police spokesman.
The man, identified as Lawndale Nutall of the 7000 block of South Paulina Street, was pronounced dead at 3:45 a.m, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Nutall's identity wasn't released until Monday evening.
No one had been taken into custody in connection with the case as of Monday evening, police said.
Monday afternoon, neighbors said that police had told them that the man, who was carrying barber supplies, did not have a wallet or any identification on him when officers arrived at the scene.
Some neighbors speculated the motive could have been robbery. One neighbor remembered hearing two quick gunshots followed by a third and also reported hearing a car door slam and the sound of tires screeching.
Another woman, who called 911 after hearing shots ring out while she watched television, said she saw a short man in a black jacket fleeing through a gangway near where Nutall's body was found.
"It's just sad. I know that," said the woman, who declined to be named for fear of retribution from those responsible for the murder. "These people will do anything."
Nathaniel Blount, who lives on the block, came outside early Monday morning to find his van had been hit by a bullet in the shooting. Blount saw the body lying in front of a vacant home, just two doors down from his own.
As Blount stood by his van Monday afternoon, few physical signs of the shooting remained. A scrap of police tape laid in the grass, and a brownish tint marked the spot on the sidewalk where the fire department had washed the unidentified man's blood away.
"I know a lot of people want to blame the mayor or the police ... [but] it's hard to blame them for each individual incident," Blount said of the city's struggle with violence. "The police can only do so much. The mayor can only do so much."
For Blount, the answer to how Chicago can prevent violence is complex. Part of that answer is bringing back more prayer into young people's lives to instill a better sense of morals. He also said a neighborhood like Englewood lacks deterrents against crime. He pointed to the gangway where another neighbor reported seeing the gunman flee. Both homes on either side of the gangway were vacant, and one did not have a fence to stop foot traffic to the alleyway.
Perhaps the greatest deterrent, Blount said, is showing that the city at large cares about every shooting death.
"I don't know what his past was, and I don't know what he was doing with his present," Blount said about Nutall, who he didn't know personally. "But I do know he doesn't have a future.
"We just have to start caring again. We have to care," he said. "Any time there's a loss of life, it should be high-profile."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
