CHICAGO (WLS) — A concealed-carry license holder was wounded in a shootout with two suspects in Pilsen Tuesday morning, Chicago police said.
The shooting took place at about 5:51 a.m. in the 1100-block of West Cullerton Street.
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Police said the 66-year-old victim saw two suspects near a parked vehicle and got into a verbal altercation with them.
According to the police, the suspects then brandished a firearm, which led to an exchange of gunfire with the victim. The victim, who possesses a valid Firearm Owners Identification card, was involved in the altercation.
David Villalobos said the suspects were trying to carjack someone. He said he’s fortunate to be alive, let alone home from the hospital already.
He was walking his dog, when he spotted the suspects.
“It was a superficial wound. But it went in and out, and I thank God for that,” Villalobos said.
He was shot in the leg, and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.
Tuesday afternoon a simple bandage was covering the wound.
“It’s getting bad again in the neighborhood. It’s getting bad again,” Villalobos said.
He said the suspects were tapping on the window of the car initially.
“At first, I mistook the object for a phone in the man’s hand, but then I saw him point a gun at the other individual. He warned me, ‘Hey, old man, you better leave or I’ll shoot you,'” Villalobos recounted the incident.
Before he had a chance to heed the person’s warning, shots were fired.
“I reacted by drawing my own weapon and firing back while trying to move away quickly,” Villalobos explained. “All I could think about was getting back to my family, my wife, and my grandkids. My intention was never to harm anyone. The situation in Chicago is deteriorating, and Mayor Johnson needs to address the lack of adequate police presence,” he added.
Cellphone video captured by a neighbor shows the suspects ducking.
The shooting happened right in front of Dvorak Park. One neighbor said he ducked for cover inside his home, hearing the barrage of gunfire outside.
“I just heard the shots and I looked out the windows,” said Jose Rodriguez, who lives nearby.
“I’m really shocked, right now walking. I’m shocked,” neighbor Alejandra Gonzalez said.
Rodriguez said he knows Villalobos, and believes the victim lives in the neighborhood a couple streets over.
“He likes to walk his dog every morning, and that’s why,” Rodriguez said.
The suspects got into a waiting Lexus sedan and fled the scene, police said.
Chopper 7 was over the scene of an abandoned Lexus about 5 miles west in North Lawndale.
One neighbor said he saw the car speed off.
“He reversed, and went that way. And then he went that way,” the neighbor said.
Another neighbor heard 15 to 20 gunshots.
“It sounds bad to say this, but I just got like so used to it because I grew up my whole life here,” the neighbor said.
“I’m scared to walk my streets. Living here all my life since I was a kid, never been scared to walk around the streets in my neighborhood until now,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the neighborhood has undergone a lot of change over the years, and recent crime has reflected that.
“We don’t know who’s coming in the neighborhood,” she said. “We do not know who is entering the neighborhood, and that makes us scared. At least people who own houses here and we’ve lived here, it is scary for me.”
Another neighbor said he’s lived in Pilsen his whole life.
“You just just get angry, upset. Obviously, nobody wants that. Nobody wants to live amongst that. But unfortunately, that’s, that’s, that’s the city we live in,” the neighbor said.
No other injuries were reported, and no one is in custody, police said. Area Three detectives are investigating.
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