In a season where the streets of Chicago have become battlegrounds, yet another life has been claimed by the city's unyielding violence. Mohammed Al Hijoj, 39, a car service driver operating on the West Side, met a brutal end Sunday, gunned down inside his vehicle.
According to ABC7 Chicago, just after 5:30 p.m., a witness saw Al Hijoj's vehicle grinding to a halt in the 1700 block of Lotus Avenue. Reports say four male passengers were inside at the tragic moment, fleeing into the city's unforgiving landscape post-gunfire. "He just left so early," laments Sadam Al Hijoj, Mohammed’s brother, in a broken tone. "He just left so early. We didn't get the time, you know?"
This sentiment echoes in the cold Chicago air as close ones gather to mourn a figure taken too soon—a father of three, a husband, a man with roots reaching deeply back to Jordan. Al Hijoj’s life was distinguished by its dedication to his family, as evidenced by the growing candlelight vigil on the sidewalk, a beacon of remembrance for a man who worked tirelessly, according to family statements obtained by ABC7 Chicago.
The shooting also echoed through reports from the Chicago Sun-Times, detailing Al Hijoj being shot multiple times. He was taken swiftly to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. The tragic scenery was further marked by the discovery of a handgun, discarded feet from the car.
