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Activists Plea To Marquette Park Residents After Shooting: 'Turn Them In'

By  Evan F.  Moore and Alex Nitkin | September 7, 2016 9:32pm | Updated on September 9, 2016 11:32am

 The activists went from door-to-door trying to gather information.
The activists went from door-to-door trying to gather information.
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DNAinfo/Evan F. Moore

MARQUETTE PARK- Local activists went door-to-door in Marquette Park Wednesday, after encouraging residents to turn in anyone involved in the shooting of a 71-year-old man while he watering his lawn Tuesday afternoon.

"If you know that's your son, nephew, your uncle, turn these individuals in. I caution the parents. Do the right thing," said activist Andrew Holmes. "I can guarantee you that if that senior [citizen] wasn't out here, someone would've been burying their loved one next week."

Holmes made a plea to the public for any information leading to the whereabouts of the shooters. While making the plea, he broke down out of frustration. 

"You get tired. Day in and day out, babies getting shot, seniors getting robbed, everything is a damn joke," Holmes said. "I'm holding the parents accountable. When they look at the video, they say 'not my child. He's a good one.' Naw, he's Hell on Wheels. That's what happened yesterday."

At 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, the 71-year-old man was in front of his home in the 7000 block of South California Avenue when two men on bikes pointed guns at him and demanded his wallet, according to Officer Thomas Sweeney, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.

The man refused, and one of the robbers shot him in his abdomen before fleeing, Sweeney said.

The five to six blocks around the east side of the park was designated as areas the activists wanted to target. Holmes also offered a $1000 reward for any information regarding the identity of the men involved.

"There needs to be some outrage. There needs to be some protesting down here," said Donovan Price of Pray Up. "These kids were on bikes, so they didn't come from far. Someone know the answer. If Chicago is going to heal, it is up to the citizens."

The Tuesday shooting was the last straw for many Marquette Park residents.

Missy, who lives one block over, said the shooting was another violent incident in an area where neighbors have been put on edge in recent months.

"I'm just tired of it," said Missy, who declined to give her last name. "We never used to have these problems around here, where young people come and start this s---. Marquette Park didn't used to be like this."

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