GRAND CROSSING — A retired Cook County correction's officer was shot to death while coming out of a friend's house early Wednesday morning, police and witnesses said.
The Cook County Sheriff's Office identified the man as Ira Cotton, 56. He worked as an officer from 1984 to 2003, officials said.
Cotton was walking out of his friend Blake's house in the 7400 block of South Ingleside Avenue when a man walked up and said "I've got a gun, give me your car keys," according to Blake, 53, who declined to give his last name.
"He gave him the keys, and he still shot him," Blake said, sobbing. "He didn't ask for no money, didn't ask for no nothing. He just shot him and ran off."
The robber shot Cotton in his leg and ran off, police said, but he left Cotton's car behind.
Cotton was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition, police said. He was later pronounced dead.
Cotton had been periodically stopping by to help Blake, he said, who was disabled since being run over by a drunken driver in 2014. He came Tuesday night to ask about a graduation party for Blake's son, a graduating senior at Kenwood Academy High School.
Thanks in part to Cotton's help, Blake said, his son had been accepted to Morehouse College in Atlanta.
"He was just a good Samaritan," Blake said. "He was a good, kind-hearted man who was always looking out for people."
"We're financially unstable, and he was just always coming by to help," he continued. "Sometimes he'd come pick up groceries for us, and sometimes he'd just come and pray with us."
Cotton left behind a wife and two children, Blake added.
The shooting occurred on the same block as a Masonic Lodge, according to John Meyer, a lodge member and resident on the block.
"I've been a member of this lodge for 21 years, and I've never seen something like this happen on this block. It's usually very quiet," Meyer said. "I'll tell you one thing, whoever did this better turn himself in. 'Cause one way or another, we're going to find him."
No one is in custody, police said.
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