WEST RIDGE — Witnesses told police a teenager shot dead near Chicago's border with Evanston Wednesday afternoon was chased, shot multiple times and then executed as he lay on the ground.
The 18-year-old victim was identified as Antonio Johnson of Evanston.
The slaying happened at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday on Ridge Boulevard, a busy path for commuters leaving the city for the north suburbs during the evening rush.
Witnesses told police they saw Johnson running west on Birchwood Avenue toward Ridge Boulevard, being chased by two people. One pulled out a gun and began shooting at him, police said.
Johnson was hit in the chest, leg and arm. He collapsed in the middle of Ridge Boulevard, in the 7400 block, police said.
As he lay motionless on the ground, the same gunman walked up to him and shot him in the head, witnesses told police.
The killers then ran back down Birchwood, headed east, police said.
Johnson was taken to St. Francis Hospital, which is just blocks away, where he was pronounced dead.
As police investigated Wednesday, they blocked off Ridge from Fargo Avenue to Howard Street.
Orange markers sat next to shell casings along Ridge and adjacent Birchwood Avenue, where a blocked-off alley was guarded by police.
Officers and investigators were seen walking into another alley along Birchwood, carrying large assault rifles and searching for evidence.
Just down the block is UNO Rogers Park, an elementary and high school at 7416 N. Ridge Blvd., where public schools administrator Evan Gutierrez sends his young son to school, he said from his home near the crime scene late Wednesday. Up the block, toward Howard Street, his 20-month-old daughter goes to day care.
Wednesday afternoon, Gutierrez said his wife had to step over shell casings as she picked up their baby.
An area in the 2100 block of West Birchwood Avenue was roped off and guarded by police, who were seen searching the alleys on both sides of Birchwood. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
Across the street from Gutierrez lives resident Miguel Delgado, who has lived on Ridge Avenue for 30 years. He said around 4:10 p.m. he was in his bedroom smoking a cigarette when he heard 14 shots ring out, about half a second apart from one another.
"Then I hear, 'Hands up — Chicago Police!'" Delgado said.
He said he saw what looked like a young man lying in the street near a white Toyota Camry, wearing a puffy black winter jacket and gray hoodie. Across the street was a bicycle he said the victim may have been riding.
Delgado said as a longtime resident, he's seen his fair share of shootings — something he considers an act of "terrorism" in the neighborhood.
He said he worries for his life and the kids in his community every day, and even simple acts like going to the gas station can cause him anxiety.
"I think it's terrorism," Delgado said. "We should stop worrying about problems overseas and take care of what's going on here first before we go try to help somebody else."
Gutierrez, who moved to the neighborhood two years ago from Los Angeles, said he and his wife were "warned" not to move into the area, but figured they could handle it because they'd had experience living in "rough areas" before.
But in the last two years, Gutierrez said he's been shocked by the amount of shootings.
This week alone, he said he's heard gunshots at least three times near his block.
"People warned us this probably wasn't the best part of Rogers Park to be buying in," Gutierrez said. "We feel stupid for having bought here, honestly. It's a terrible shame."
Shell casings were found in an alley near Birchwood and Ridge Boulevard. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
A shooting left an 18-year-old man dead Wednesday in the 7400 block of North Ridge Boulevard. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
