HUMBOLDT PARK — Police are defending the way officers handled the removal of two bodies over the weekend after a shooting in Humboldt Park left two men dead.
At about 2:35 a.m., two men and a woman were driving south on the 500 block of North Avers Avenue in a dark-colored sedan when a man fired shots at the car from the sidewalk, according to Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police spokesman.
The two men were sitting in the front seat, and they were each shot multiple times, Estrada said. Both men died in the incident.
A video from the crime scene was posted to YouTube Sunday depicting police towing the vehicle with the victims' bodies still inside.
“They tow the car with the body hanging out the window. When did it become procedure to tow a car with a deceased body hanging out of a window of a repo truck?" the man recording the video asks. "Only in Chicago.”
Darron Thomas, 32, of the 3300 block of West 61st Street in Chicago Lawn, and Kenneth J. Wallace, 35, of the 4800 block of West Washington Street in Austin, were both pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The woman, 26, was sitting in the back and a bullet grazed her right ankle, Estrada said. She was brought to Norwegian Hospital, where she's now in stable condition, Estrada said.
No one is in custody for the shooting, Estrada said.
Police said the removal of the vehicle with the bodies inside is required from time to time due to unique circumstances of the crime scene.
The Chicago Police Department News Affairs office released a statement about the incident Monday morning.
"This would be done to protect the integrity of the crime scene (the car) while at the same time preserving the dignity of the deceased by handling their bodies in a private area rather than on the street in full view of onlookers.
CPD is sensitive to the handling of bodies in public, and detective bureau has implemented procedures to minimize any community concerns that may arise from the manner in which crime scenes are processed."
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