WOODLAWN — Ernest McMullen was a hard worker who wasn't into anything that would get him shot, one of his friends said Friday afternoon.
"It's baffling. I never knew him to be in any trouble," said Clyde Young, a friend of McMullen. "I don't know why anyone would target him."
McMullen was shot along with two others at about 7:25 p.m. Wednesday in the block of 6600 South Champlain Avenue, police said. He was pronounced dead at Saint Bernard's Hospital at 7:38 p.m.
The two other men survived, authorities said.
"It doesn't make any sense at all. I never knew him to be a street dude and he wasn't a gang banger," said Young, 27.
Young was friends with McMullen for more than 10 years and played football with him at Dunbar High School. McMullen was known for silly antics but "nothing you wouldn't embrace," Young said.
McMullen had an airport job after high school and worked at the post office after that. He was someone who you could network with and he would help you get a job, Young said.
"He was the first dude in high school to have a job," Young said. "He would always ask you for a dollar when he had a pocket full of money."
