ENGLEWOOD — Travis Allen had gotten into mixed-martial arts fighting as a hobby and a means of staying above the crime and violence that threatens so many lives in the city.
A month to the day before he was to fight in his biggest event yet, the 28-year-old father of three was gunned down outside his home in Englewood, according to police, relatives and his fighting promoter.
Allen was sitting in a parked car outside the home he shares with his fiancée and her mother in the 5700 block of South Emerald Avenue at 10:54 a.m. Wednesday when shots were fired at the car, police said.
The four people inside the car got out and began running when the bullets flew, police said.
Allen tried to escape but was struck multiple times in his torso as he ran, police said.
Allen's grandmother, Vicky Austin, said she was told that two men walked up to the car and began firing. She said one had a t-shirt wrapped over his face, and that another was possibly wearing a black mask.
He was the only one shot, and Austin said she believes the gunman targeted her grandson.
Why he would be targeted is a question Allen's friends and family are grappling with now. They said Allen is a dedicated father and fiancé with a promising future in mixed-martial arts, or MMA.
Though police said Allen was in a gang, his friends and family refuted that claim and said he had not been in trouble in more than a decade.
"I need answers," Austin said. "He kept to himself and didn't do nothing. I feel like I'm dreaming."
Mike Davis trained and promoted Allen through his Chicago-based United Combat League promotion.
He got connected with Allen through one of his friends who was already training at the gym.
Allen quickly joined the team and has since posted a 1-1 record in his short MMA career, Davis said.
Allen was scheduled to fight at a Sept. 24 promotion in Hammond, Ind.
On his Facebook page, Allen had written about how he was excited for the opportunity and asked friends to come support him. He also wrote about the tough time he had when his mother died in early July of a deadly infection, according to family and his Facebook.
"He used the gym to stay out of trouble," Davis said. "He showed a lot of promise. We had other promoters asking about him."
Driving hours to events in Iowa and elsewhere, Davis said he got to know Allen as a dedicated family man who was focused on better life for his kids and himself.
"He's literally part of the foundation of the community," Davis said. "He's the type of person you want as your neighbor.
"You see that he [gets shot] — it tells you it's mayhem out there."
Allen grew up in Garfield Park but within the last two years had moved in with his fiancée in Englewood, said Gabrielle, his fiancée that asked to be identified only by her first name.
"He was really good at it, too," she said. "He was one of the nicest people you will ever meet."
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