Abner B. Garcia, a 23-year-old U.S. Army veteran, was shot to death during a confrontation with gang members in the West Elsdon neighborhood early Saturday.
Abner Garcia | Facebook
Garcia was driving south in the 5200 block of South Pulaski about 1:40 a.m. when a van pulled alongside him, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Someone inside the van flashed gang signs, and began arguing with Garcia. Then someone else in the van opened a door and shot Garcia in the head, authorities said.
He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 5:45 a.m., authorities said. He lived in the 5400 block of South Luna, about a mile from where he was shot.
A graduate of Curie Metropolitan High School, Garcia attended UIC and the University of Alaska Anchorage. He was an Army soldier who served at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Anchorage. He worked at Avant Creidt Corp. in Chicago and volunteered as a personal development mentor at the YMCA.
No one was in custody for the shooting as of Saturday afternoon.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire