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Slain Hoops Star Wasn't Shooter's Intended Target, Family Says

By Josh McGhee | October 21, 2016 6:26pm
 Greg Tucker Jr., of Uptown, played for Lincoln Park High School and Chicago State University, friends said.
Greg Tucker Jr., of Uptown, played for Lincoln Park High School and Chicago State University, friends said.
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UPTOWN — A local basketball star and father was dropping off an acquaintance when he was fatally shot in Uptown Sunday night, his family said Friday. 

Around 8:50 p.m. Sunday, Greg Tucker Jr. was driving southbound in the 4500 block of North Hazel Street when he was shot in his head. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition, but was later pronounced dead, police said.

Witnesses told Uptown Update someone in a silver car pulled up next to his black car near the intersection of Windsor Avenue and Hazel Street and fired five to six shots.

But a family source, who asked to remain anonymous, said the shooter was likely aiming for the passenger, not Tucker. The passenger exited the car with Tucker's cellphone shortly before the shooting. 

The shooter fired into the car from the passenger's side, the family member said. 

"We actually saw photos of the crime scene that clearly show [Tucker's] hand still on the steering wheel.  He never imagined that anyone would shoot at him, which is why he felt safe to hang near Clarendon Park," the source said.

Tucker, a former Lincoln Park High School basketball standout, was a common face at the Clarendon Park field house just a few blocks from where the shooting occurred.

"He was here every Saturday. Bright and early for open gym. He's been coming here since he was a kid. Everyone seemed to know him up here," said Althea Adejudge, who works the front desk at the field house.

"I only heard good things about him. ... It's just unfortunate. He seemed like he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. [Gangbanging] was not his M.O. It's just sad," she said.

Adejudge said Tucker was "a good dad" to his 11-month-old daughter Riley. Tucker's family launched a GoFundMe campaign for his daughter following his death. 

"Although he loved basketball, he doted on his daughter. He loved her more than life itself. He talked endlessly about how he wanted to take care of her and provide an amazing life for her," Tucker's aunt Toskanelia Palmer wrote on the GoFundMe page. 

"Another senseless killing of an innocent person," Palmer wrote. 

Riley will celebrate her birthday next week and a bank account has been set up in her name, according to Tucker's family. All proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards Riley's care. 

"I've never witnessed a young man his age speak so openly about his feelings for his child.  It would often times bring tears to my eyes to hear how proud he was to be 'Riley's' father," Palmer said. "His daughter gave his life new meaning and purpose after she was born." 

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