Wednesday afternoon's typical flow on the Dan Ryan Expressway was shattered by gunfire, leaving two teenagers wounded and causing a snarl in traffic as law enforcement shut down lanes to investigate the incident. State police responded after 2 p.m. to reports of a shooting in the inbound lanes near 43rd Street, discovering the two male victims. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the individuals, believed to be in their older teens, were transported to Stroger Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious and critical conditions.
The Chicago Fire Department informed CBS News Chicago that the victims are both 18 years old, with one in critical condition. Following the shooting, an eyewitness at the scene, Montrel Grady, relayed to CBS News Chicago, "I saw the firetrucks and stuff and everything coming towards them." "Then I saw them get put on the stretcher, too." The Illinois Department of Transportation reported that three right express lanes on the inbound Dan Ryan were immediately blocked off at 43rd Street, along with the inbound local lanes, as troopers conducted their search for evidence.
While traffic resumed later in the evening with lanes reopening by 6 p.m., the circumstances and motives behind the shooting remain undisclosed. Fire officials said it was too early to tell if the event resulted from road rage, a detail left for the Illinois State Police to unravel.
Investigators continue their work to piece together the events leading up to the shooting, which fire officials noted occurred after a chase that started in the local lanes before moving to the express lanes.
