UPTOWN — The 19-year-old man who was killed in a drive-by shooting Wednesday evening was not the intended target and was just taking the trash out, according to the slain teen's friend and a witness.
Around 11:45 p.m., the man was in an alley in the 4400 block of North Magnolia Avenue when someone fired shots from a dark-colored minivan, striking him in his left side, according to Officer Janel Sedevic, a Chicago Police spokeswoman. The van then drove away northbound, Sedevic said.
The victim was transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he later died, Sedevic said.
Sam L. Johnson, 19, of the 4400 block of Magnolia Avenue, died at 12:24 a.m., the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said.
A friend of the victim who was seen riding his bicycle on the block Thursday, Daniel Simmons, 14, said the victim's name was Sam, but didn't know his last name.
He said he'd often see Sam playing basketball at Broncho Billy Playlot Park, 4437 N. Magnolia Ave., which is located across the street from where the fatal shooting occurred.
"He just go to the park to hoop. He wasn't in a gang. I know for sure," said Simmons, adding that he used to see Sam, who had dreadlocks, playing basketball "for hours."
Daniel also described Sam as having a lot of friends.
"I asked him: 'What you is?' He said, 'I don't gangbang.' I said, 'Me either. I just hang around here and they shoot a lot.'"
Police said Thursday that the victim was not a confirmed gang member.
Daniel said he thought the shooter mistook Sam for someone else. When asked if Sam had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, Daniel simply said: "Not really. He was by his house."
Multiple attempts to reach the victim's family were not successful.
Claudia Pesenti, who teaches at Courtenay's Child Parent Center, a preschool that is situated on the same lot as Broncho Billy Playlot Park, also recalled Sam playing basketball there. She described him as polite and respectful.
According to Uptown resident Rachel Loutos, whose balcony overlooks the alley where the shooting occurred, the victim was taking out the trash when he was shot.
She said she could hear a woman screaming, "Why him? Why him? He was just taking out the trash."
She also saw the victim lying on the pavement with a trash bag next to him and trash strewn all over the alley.
Several other neighbors interviewed by DNAinfo Chicago blamed the park's basketball hoops for the violence, arguing that it attracts gang members when the park is intended for young kids because it is on the same lot as a preschool.
One neighbor, Zenadia Ortega, called the park a "hot spot" for gang activity. Another resident, who declined to provide her name, said the gang-related drug dealing is "ongoing" in the park.
"For the brief time the hoops were gone, it was beautiful there," she said.
The neighbor was referring to when Ald. James Cappleman (46th) ordered the removal of the hoops during his first term to curb violence.
Some longtime park users criticized the move at the time, saying it was an attack on low-income families, according to a Chicago Reader article. A Chicago police lieutenant told the Reader that they weren't getting a lot of 911 calls related to the park.
No one is in custody for the fatal shooting and detectives are investigating, police said.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
