Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Hyde Park Murders Leave Residents, Business Owners Shaken

By Sam Cholke | May 30, 2013 7:23am
 Residents of the Hyde Park building where Gregory Dixon was killed are still rattled, even with new cameras and a security guard.
Hyde Park Murder
View Full Caption

HYDE PARK — Residents of a Hyde Park apartment building remain rattled after a man was shot in a third-floor apartment early Saturday morning.

“It lets you know crime can happen anywhere,” said Pierre Evans, who moved to the building two years ago to escape the violence in the Englewood neighborhood.

Gregory Dixon, 29, was killed in an apartment building at 1440 E. 52nd St., authorities said.

Dixon buzzed two men into the Hyde Park apartment building and left his front door open for them, said Officer Amina Greer, a Police Department spokeswoman. The men
began shooting once they reached the apartment, striking Dixon in his chest and back. He was pronounced dead at 1:48 a.m., and police said he had gang affiliations.

Apartment 7B was still sealed by police on Wednesday, and residents seemed jumpy even after the recent installation of security cameras and the more recent addition of an evening security guard after the shooting.

“If they came through the front door, they ought to have it on tape,” Evans said.

Residents said they did not believe Dixon lived in the apartment, and many said they had not seen the owner in the past week, but declined to identify him or other residents.

“This was a busy house,” Evans said of the residents of 7B, adding that the whole building was usually pretty quiet. “They were quiet too, just busy.”

Dixon’s murder comes a little more than three weeks since one man was killed and another wounded in the 5200 block of South Harper Avenue.

On April 30, the two men were standing in a hallway of an apartment building about 12:15 a.m. when a third man walked up to them and opened fire, Greer said.

“I see traffic, but I don’t know what kind of traffic it is,” said one business owner close to the two buildings who asked not to be identified. “What I’m hoping, of course, is these are rare occasions and it will come to a halt because of the hotel.”

The two apartment buildings are at the edge of the major redevelopment of the former Harper Court Shopping Center into an office tower for the University of Chicago and a Hyatt Place hotel.

Marlon C. Lynch, chief of the university's police force, issued a security alert to the U. of C. community calling the two shootings "targeted incidents."

"Although police believe both shootings were targeted incidents, it is important to take normal precautions to secure residences. Keep doors and ground-level windows locked or secured. Do not hold a door for or buzz in a stranger. If you see suspicious activity or somebody trying to gain unauthorized access, call police immediately," the alert said.