CHICAGO _ Twice over the weekend, Michaela Shumaker stood with neighbors in the dark, watching as police investigated a shooting on her block on Chicago's South Side.
The first time was just before 10:20 p.m. Friday, when a 23-year-old man was killed a few doors down from her home in the 8800 block of South Eggleston Avenue in Gresham.
Shumaker, 45, was smoking a cigarette outside her home where relatives were celebrating her brother's birthday when she saw a silver sedan roll down the street and shots were fired.
About 12:40 a.m. Monday, Shumaker woke up to use the bathroom and noticed blue and red lights flashing outside her window. An ambulance was parked by the house where the slain man had lived.
When Shumaker came outside in her pajamas _ an over-sized white T-shirt and baggy shorts _ two passersby showed her blood stains on her driveway, part of a trail that ran along the sidewalk.
Inside the ambulance in the middle of the street, paramedics treated a 23-year-old man who was shot in the left ankle. His shirt was off and he peeked through the back windows. He told police he was shot while riding his bike about a block away and ran into the home.
Shumaker, who provides in-home medical care, said the two shootings don't scare her too much and they remind her to stay alert. She's lived on the block for about four years with her mother, who is 65.
"You got to do what you got to do, and get out here and go to work," she said. "You gotta be careful. You can't be scared and stay in your house. I got nephews. You gotta watch the cars and stuff. You know, its crazy."
