CHICAGO _ Two men were killed and a woman was wounded in two separate shootings on the Eisenhower Expressway in Chicago within six hours of each other, according to Illinois State Police.
The first shooting took place shortly before 6 a.m. in the westbound lanes near Laramie Avenue, hitting 22-year-old Johnathon Ortiz and a 22-year-old woman traveling in a white Jeep Commander, according to state police. Ortiz, who was driving, was dead on arrival at Stroger Hospital, and the woman was taken there in critical condition, according to police.
State police shut down all outbound lanes of the expressway between California and Central avenues for several hours to canvass the area for evidence. Police found bullet casings near the scene, and the SUV was being processed at state police headquarters in Chicago, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. George Jimenez. The expressway reopened to traffic about 9:30 a.m., police said.
The family of Ortiz said they believe the shooting is a case of mistaken identity.
"He's not a gangbanger. He's not affiliated with gang members," his older brother Pedro Ortiz, 28, said outside Stroger Hospital, where family and friends gathered. He said his brother did not have any gang tattoos. "He never did no harm to no one."
Pedro Ortiz said his younger brother was at home, where he lived with his mother and two brothers near Kedzie Avenue and Monroe Street, when his girlfriend called him to go get something to eat with her.
"We didn't expect my little brother to be dead and we've got to make funeral arrangements," he said.
Johnathon Ortiz was an aspiring rapper who performed under the stage name John Doe, his friends and relatives said. "He was one of those quiet types, kept to himself, hardly talked to anybody. Music pretty much helped him break out of his shell," Pedro Ortiz said.
The second shooting, around noon in the eastbound lanes on the Eisenhower at Central Avenue, left a male passenger wounded, according to Illinois State Police. Police said the uninjured female driver took the passenger to the hospital, where the medical examiner's office said he was pronounced dead 20 minutes later.
The man was identified as Devon Almon, 23, of an unknown address, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The second shooting appears to be gang-related and not connected to the first shooting, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Jason Bradley. The ramp at Central Avenue was closed for the investigation.
Illinois State Police said the second shooting Thursday marks the 44th on Chicago-area expressways since Jan. 1, including both accidental and police-involved shootings. Last year there were 38 shootings on Chicago-area expressways, police said. Another incident last year included in earlier numbers released by state police involved a BB gun and not a firearm.
