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Father Of 3 Killed In Pilsen Shooting Outside Express Grill

By  Alex Nitkin and Stephanie Lulay | May 4, 2016 8:07am | Updated on May 4, 2016 12:46pm

 Two men were shot, one fatally, outside Express Grill, 1730 S. Halsted St., Tuesday night.
Two men were shot, one fatally, outside Express Grill, 1730 S. Halsted St., Tuesday night.
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DNAinfo/Alex Nitkin

PILSEN — A man was killed and another was wounded in a drive-by shooting at Pilsen's busy intersection of 18th and Halsted streets late Tuesday night, police said.

Around 11:40 p.m., the men were standing on the sidewalk in the 800 block of West 18th Street when a man shot at them from a passing silver SUV, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police spokesman.

Witnesses said three or four men were about to order at the window of Express Grill, 1730 S. Halsted St., when the SUV whipped around the corner.

One man, 43, was pronounced dead on the scene with a gunshot wound in his chest, police said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as Jesus Juarez, of the 5400 block of South Luna Avenue.

In a Facebook post, the Latin American Motorcycle Association-West chapter said Juarez was president of the Legion of Honour Mid-Town motorcycle group. A friend said Juarez was a father of three.

"Our condolences to his family, our brothers and sisters in the Legion of Honour and friends," the post read. 

The other man, 35, was taken to Stroger Hospital and treated for a gunshot wound in his left knee, Estrada said.

 Jesus Juarez, 43, was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Pilsen late Tuesday night.
Jesus Juarez, 43, was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Pilsen late Tuesday night.
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LAMA Chicago-West Facebook page

Yvolina Hernandez, owner of Yvolina's Tamales, 814 W. 18th St., said she heard four gunshots as she was closing her restaurant late Tuesday night. When she looked outside, she said, she saw someone giving CPR to a man lying in the street.

"He had two bullet holes in his chest," Hernandez said. "We were all scared, but it didn't make us feel less safe or anything."

"There are some boys who ride around here like and shoot sometimes, but not so much around here," she added. "It's usually very safe."

Alex Lazarevski, the owner of Express Grill, said his surveillance cameras caught the entire incident on tape. His son, Aco, was behind the counter when it happened, he said.

"It looked like a bullet hit the brick under the window, so it just missed him," he said. "I was just really glad he was OK, that was my biggest concern."

Still, Lazarevski said, the shooting wasn't enough to make him consider extra safety precautions, like bulletproof glass.

"I mean, I don't see what else we could have done," he said. "Stuff like this happens all over the city. There are a lot of crazy people out there." 

In 2008, before the all-night sausage stand opened, Ald. Danny Solis (25th) placed a hold on Express Grill's business license application out of concern that it would cause problems at the intersection, according to the Sun-Times. In 2011, a Cook County judge intervened, allowing Express Grill to open. 

Since then, the stand hasn't sat well with many local residents, according to Damian, a nearby property manager who declined to say his last name.

"There were always a lot of concerns about traffic safety and trash, and of course that it's just such a big ugly building," Damian said. "But I don't think people were ever really concerned about shootings, or any activity like that."

In March, a man was critically wounded in a shooting outside another Express Grill location on the Near West Side.

Luis Figueroa, owner of Kristoffer's Cafe & Bakery, 1733 S. Halsted St., said Express Grill might invite trouble by its very nature.

"I don't blame them or anything, but that's the kind of stuff that happens when you're open 24 hours," Figueroa said. "I mean I don't think they're doing anything to attract that, but when you stay open late at night, it's more likely to happen, I guess."

No one is in custody, Estrada said.

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