Two men were shot and killed late Tuesday on a block of Calumet Avenue that has already seen too much trouble this year, rattling residents in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.
The gunfire erupted around 11:21 p.m. in the 7800 block of South Calumet Avenue, where police say the two victims were confronted on the street by five male suspects. The group then took off on foot toward 79th Street, according to ABC7 Chicago.
What the police say
Investigators offered only a bare-bones account of what happened. "There was an encounter and the two victims were shot," police said, per ABC7 Chicago.
A 37-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. A 44-year-old man was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he later died.
Neighborhood context
The double killing lands in the middle of a rough stretch for the area around 79th Street. In March, a late-night incident at the 79th Street Red Line station left two people seriously wounded in a midnight shooting. Just a few weeks before that, a large blaze in a nearby apartment building at 79th and Calumet turned into an apartment inferno that sent thick smoke pouring over the block.
Investigation
Area Two detectives are investigating the double fatality and canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses. No arrests have been announced, and detectives are asking anyone with information to contact authorities as the probe continues.
