By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Veteran cab driver Kamil Shamji was found shot to death inside his taxi Monday morning in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the North Side.
The 59-year-old was discovered unresponsive just before 8 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the head inside his cab in the 4400 block of North Leavitt, just behind the Sulzer Regional Library, according to Chicago Police.
Area North detectives are conducting a homicide investigation.
He was identified by Cab Drivers United in a statement on its website.
“Kamil Shamji’s murder last night reminds us all of the almost constant danger cab drivers put themselves in everyday when they go to work. Serving every corner of Chicago, their visibility allows them to serve residents and visitors, but at the same time, it makes for easy targets,” according to the statement.
A Pakistoni native, Shamji lived in the 9500 block of Kildare in north suburban Skokie. He had been a cab driver for 35 years, the last 20 with Flash Cab.
“Flash Cab extends its deepest condolences to his family and many friends,” a statement from the company said.
The union demanded the city address violence against cab drivers.
“A simple preventative measure such as silent alarm linked to GPS, that would dispatch the nearest CPD squad car, would give Chicago’s cab drivers the backup they need should they be placed in a dangerous situation with a potentially violent passenger.”
The driver’s last fare was someone who had ordered the taxi earlier in the morning, according to a statement from United Taxidrivers Community Council spokesman Peter Enger.
A photo of his last passenger should be available because taxis are equipped with cameras, Enger said. Although the photo has not been released, the council hoped images would be made public so other taxi drivers could avoid the possible shooter.
The last murder of a cabbie in Chicago was in January 2015.