Oct. 28--Neighbors of the Naperville and Aurora men who died in a shooting at a Bolingbrook industrial park reacted Tuesday with surprise and shock.
"He was always super nice," said Jackie Chin, next door neighbor to Degang Zhang, 48, of Aurora, identified by police as the shooter. "I can't believe it."
Degang Zhang shot Xinling Zhang, 39, of Naperville, at YCB International on the 600 block of Veterans Parkway in Bolingbrook, according to Bolingbrook police Lt. Carter Larry. Both men died at the scene. YCB International is an auto supply importer.
The motive for the shooting and the men's relationship to each other remained unclear Tuesday.
Chin said she often saw Degang Zhang playing with his young son in their yard, and the family of three had moved into their home on the 1500 block of Merle Drive in Aurora about five or six years ago.
Chin described her neighbors as "very friendly, very pleasant."
According to the Will County coroner's office, Degang Zhang suffered one gunshot and Xinling Zhang suffered multiple gunshots after an altercation about noon Monday. Police were called to the scene about 9:40 a.m., according to reports.
An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday, and results are pending.
In Naperville, Xinling Zhang was known as "Bill" to neighbors. He came to the United States from China with his wife and moved into the Brookwood Trace neighborhood in 2013, neighbors said.
"They were good neighbors," Danielle Scardigno said from the front door of her house on Nottingham Lane, across the street from the Zhangs.
"We're a pretty close-knit neighborhood," Scardigno said. "They were really good people."
Scardigno said Xinling Zhang was more fluent in English than his wife, which kept Scardigno from getting to know her better.
"He was always nice," Scardigno said of Xinling Zhang. "We saw him in September at our block party, (and) I'd see them out power walking at night."
A white, flowering plant and a white envelope were seen early Tuesday afternoon on the front porch of the Naperville home.
At Degang Zhang's Aurora home, a man who said he was a relative stood on the front sidewalk, smoking a cigarette.
"It's hard," the man said, adding the family didn't notice anything unusual about Degang Zhang before work Monday.
The man declined to comment further before returning into the house.
Freelance reporter Ted Slowik contributed. Genevieve Bookwalter is a Chicago Tribune reporter. Bill Bird is a Naperville Sun reporter.
gbookwalter@tribpub.com
wbird@tribpub.com
