JEFFERSON PARK — A 37-year-old man was shot in the back Friday morning in an apparent road-rage incident on the Northwest Side, police said.
The shooting occurred in the 4400 block of North Lavergne Avenue about 5 a.m. when a black Mercedes SUV pulled behind a white Cadillac Escalade that was dropping someone off near Sunnyside Avenue.
Someone inside the Mercedes opened fire on the Escalade, said Officer John Mirabelli, a police spokesman.
As the Mercedes — carrying three men and a woman — sped away, the Escalade, driven by the injured man's brother, chased it down Lavergne to Lawrence and Milwaukee avenues, Mirabelli said.
At Foster and Nagle avenues, the Mercedes ran a red light and collided with a Toyota Sienna minivan driven by a 29-year-old man, who was treated at Resurrection Hospital for pain in his arms before being released.
All four people in the Mercedes fled on foot after the accident, leaving behind at least two handguns, Mirabelli said. No one is in custody.
Before the crash, the Cadillac had stopped at a CVS drugstore and asked an employee to call for help, Mirabelli said. The injured man was taken to Lutheran General Hospital where he was listed in serious condition.
Police are investigating what lead to the shooting, Mirabelli said.
Cesar Ortiz, who has lived on Lavergne near Sunnyside for 23 years, said he heard between six and eight shots just as he was getting up to go to work.
"I ran to the window and I saw a white Cadillac that had hit a van," Ortiz said. "Then they all drove off."
Police blocked off the intersection where the shooting took place, which was littered with glass and several shell casings, all morning.
"This neighborhood is getting worse," Ortiz said.
Tim Broderick, who blogs about news on the Northwest Side, said he wasn't surprised to hear about a road rage incident in the area, which is not far from the junction of the Edens and Kennedy expressways.
"People cut through this neighborhood all the time," Broderick said, adding that Montrose Avenue, which is one block away, often backs up at Milwaukee Avenue.
Police urged anyone with information about the attack to call Area North detectives at 312-744-8261.
