MARQUETTE PARK — A 71-year-old man was shot during an attempted robbery while he watered his lawn early Tuesday afternoon, police said.
At 12:10 p.m., the man was in front of his home in the 7000 block of South California Avenue when two men on bikes pointed guns at him and demanded his wallet, according to Officer Thomas Sweeney, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
The man refused, and one of the robbers shot him in his abdomen before fleeing, Sweeney said.
The incident was captured on a neighbor's surveillance video, which was provided to ABC7.
The man was taken to Holy Cross Hospital and transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition, Sweeney said.
The shooting was the last straw for Nicole H., who lives on the same block and declined to say her full last name. Since moving to the block in January, her house had already been broken into, she said.
"It's time to move again," Nicole said. "Being next to a park and a big main street, I thought it was quiet over here."
The houses on her block face the southeast corner of Marquette Park. California Avenue and 70th Street are both major commercial thoroughfares.
Missy, who lives one block over, said Tuesday's shooting was another violent incident in an area where neighbors have been put on edge in recent months.
"I'm just tired of it," said Missy, who declined to say her last name. "We never used to have these problems around here, where young people come and start this s---. Marquette Park didn't used to be like this."
Missy said the blocks surrounding her home are racially and demographically diverse, with lots of senior citizens and retired public employees. But since shootings and burglaries have become more common, "for sale" signs have become a common sight.
"It's just getting ridiculous out here, and people are already starting to talk about leaving," she said. "I just want to be able to sit out on my front porch. I want to be able to talk to neighbors."
The city has seen a sharp increase in shootings so far in 2016, with the number of people shot this year already surpassing last year's total.
No one is in custody, police said.
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