ENGLEWOOD — Residents of the 5600 block of South Shields all tell it the same way.
The shots were fired in rapid succession, as if from a single gun. Several mistook it for a string of fireworks. Most could recall the exact time of 4:01 a.m.
No one suspected it was the murder of Travis Henry, an 18-year-old man from Englewood.
Police records confirm what everyone heard. Three shooters fired multiple shots into the vehicle where Henry was sitting with friends early in the morning of Nov. 3, within feet of his home. Neighbors who were first on the scene said eight bullets went through the windshield and several more along the frame.
The gunmen had pulled up in a dark-colored conversion van and fled southbound, according to police.
"I would've been in that car and I wouldn't have been here to tell you about it," said one of Henry's friend, who declined to be identified. "I was 15 seconds away from the car when the shots went off.
"I would've been dead."
At sunrise, more than 20 friends and family arrived, including Henry's father, who was among the first to stand vigil.
At 8 a.m. his body still sat in the vehicle while city officials documented the scene.
"All I wanna know is how long y'all are gonna let him lay on the ground before you'll move him," another friend said, more than four hours after the shooting.
Henry was pronounced dead at 9:40 a.m. by the Cook County medical examiner.
