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'Horrifying' Fatal Shooting Friday Shakes West Ridge Block, Neighbors Say

By Alex Nitkin | July 19, 2015 12:53pm | Updated on July 20, 2015 8:41am
 A small makeshift shrine was laid near the sidewalk where Vallan Francis, 22, was gunned down Friday.
A small makeshift shrine was laid near the sidewalk where Vallan Francis, 22, was gunned down Friday.
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DNAinfo/Alex Nitkin

WEST RIDGE — Even in a relatively safe neighborhood like West Ridge, Roger Gobble's block sees its share of crime. But when he heard gunshots outside his building on the 2000 block of West Arthur Avenue in broad daylight, he couldn't believe it.

At about 1:40 p.m Friday afternoon his 22-year-old neighbor, Vallan Francis, was shot multiple times in the chest. Francis was brought to Saint Francis Hospital, where doctors later pronounced him dead.

"It's a pretty diverse neighborhood here, demographically and socioeconomically, but this kind of thing never just happens around here," said Gobble. "His address was listed here with his mother, but I hardly ever even saw him come around here."

Neighbors said Francis was playing outside with his girlfriend and three children when two "kids, probably under 18" ran out from a gangway and shot him before fleeing.

One woman, who asked not to be identified, was cat-sitting in her sister's apartment next door when she heard four gunshots and children screaming. She ran down to see Francis splayed on the sidewalk, surrounded by neighbors and onlookers. She tried to take his pulse, she said, and another person attempted to give CPR.

"It was the most horrifying thing I've ever seen in my life. I'd never seen someone with a fresh bullet wound, and his eyes were half-open," the woman said. "I really did think the paramedics would be able to recuscitate him, but I guess they weren't."

Neighbors said they hadn't seen a shooting on the block in at least 12 years, but lately, it's been getting more dangerous.

"It's scary as hell living here, just wondering when the next car is going to roll up in retaliation," said a woman who lives across the street from Francis, who asked not to be identified. "It's horrible to think someone's life had to be cut so short."

Francis' family could not be reached Sunday.

See our map of every shooting in Chicago since 2010.

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