OAK PARK, Ill. (WLS) — Six people are in custody after a man was killed in a shooting in Oak Park Friday morning, police said.
Police responded at about 1:23 a.m. to the 600-block of South Boulevard and found a male victim with an apparent gunshot wound. He was transported to Loyola Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
Loved ones of the victim spoke exclusively with ABC7. They said the shooting began with an attempted carjacking, and they are now seeking justice for his death.
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The victim has been identified as 54-year-old Corey Gates of South Holland, Oak Park police said.
Family members said Gates was an Army veteran who served in the Gulf War, and was a fighter even in his final moments alive. They said he fought back against an armed group who tried to steal his car.
“All I had was murdered, this morning, and it’s devastating,” the victim’s twin sister Cathleen Gates said. “It’s going to be devastating that he’s gone. He ain’t here no more because of some bums.”
There’s never been a moment in Cathleen’s life that she’s spent without her twin brother, until now.
“I just talked to him, yesterday,” she said. “And, that was the last time I talked to him. I didn’t know it would be the last… last time.” 2:09
Now, she is mourning her brother and pleading for justice.
“Went to work, didn’t bother anybody,” Cathleen Gates said. “Whatever I needed, he was there. He did what he had to do as a man, and for him to go out this way?”
A woman who spoke with ABC7 lives directly in front of where the shooting happened. She said she heard several loud gunshots, so she knew it was close by.
“I heard what sounded like gunshot,” she said. “They were very loud. Six to seven of them.”
She peered out her window minutes later and saw a man lying in the street, she said.
“It was a little disturbing, and I was concerned if the suspects were still on the loose or not,” the witness said. “I saw a police man and the paramedics working on the gentleman laying in the street and applying CPR.”
Corey Gates later died at a hospital.
“Served the country and come back over here and get took out by some goons,” Cathleen Gates said.
The family says the Gulf War Army veteran worked as a phlebotomist and had just gotten off from a late shift when he was targeted in an apparent and random carjacking.
“Getting off the ‘L,’ parked right there, getting in his car,” Cathleen Gates said. “From what they said, it looked like it was a struggle or something. I mean, I knew he wasn’t going to go out like that. He was a fighter… I just want them brought to justice. That’s all I want.”
A witness told police they saw five suspects in black clothing leave the scene.
“I just hope that they caught those people who did it,” Oak Park resident Edna Capinanes said. “It’s so sad that it happened.”
Police later found three juveniles and two adults matching the description running eastbound on Pleasant Street from Cuyler Avenue and took them into custody.
An additional adult male suspect was later taken into custody, police said.
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Police have not yet been able to find any weapons.
“I like to walk around here with my seven-year-old son and I like to walk in general, so it’s scary,” Charles Fox, who lives nearby said. “It’s definitely unsettling seeing something like that happen like literally in our backyard.”
Neighbors said recent shootings in the suburb have been very worrying.
“We are just a couple blocks from the city right now and that would be my honest reaction,” Fox said. “We don’t usually see a lot of violent crime in Oak Park.”
The violence is making those who live nearby uneasy.
“I’m not surprised there are a lot of things going on in Oak Park recently,” Capinanes said.
CTA Green Line service was briefly interrupted following the shooting, but has since been restored.
The West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force is now helping with the investigation.
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