Feb. 11--Three suspects are in custody after two people were shot in a drug deal gone bad in Wheeling, police said Wednesday.
At about 7 p.m. Tuesday, a man suffering from a gunshot wound walked into a Walgreen at Dundee and Schoenbeck roads, police said. About 40 minutes later, another subject entered a local hospital with a gunshot wound.
The injuries were non-life-threatening; the victims were in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery, according to the police statement.
After investigating and talking to witnesses, police concluded that two groups of people apparently arranged and to meet in the 400 block of McHenry Road to buy and sell drugs.
"It appears the drug deal went bad and multiple subjects drew handguns and shot each other," the news release stated.
Detectives were working with the Cook County State's Attorney's office to continue the investigation.
A customer at Walgreen on Tuesday night said she saw the young man who'd been shot come into the store with two friends, screaming, "Help me! I've been shot."
Paramedics came and took away the victim, who'd been shot near the middle of his back. He was panicked but alert and was not bleeding profusely, said Galina Reytikh of Prospect Heights.
She said she was "shocked" by the shooting but that drugs had become a bigger problem in the area recently.
