Aspiring MMA fighter Travis Allen was shot to death Wednesday morning outside his home in the South Side Englewood neighborhood.
Travis Allen | Facebook
The 28-year-old Allen was sitting in a vehicle with friends in the 5700 block of South Emerald at 10:54 a.m. when they heard gunshots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
They got out of the vehicle and started running, but the gunmen chased Allen and shot him multiple times in the torso, police said.
Allen was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:32 a.m., police said.
Mike Davis, who runs the Chicago-based United Combat League, was both trainer and promoter for Allen in his budding Mixed Martial Arts career.
Allen, known for a powerful right punch, was scheduled to fight at a Sept. 24 event at the Hammond (Ind.) Civic Center.
“It is with great sadness that anyone has to post about the reoccurring violence plaguing the streets of Chicago,” Davis wrote on his Facebook page.
“Travis Allen had been preparing for a fight Sep 24 and was victimized earlier today by the out of control gang issue that has for some reason become acceptable by the news media, politicians and the general public.
“Travis will now rest beside his mother who succumbed to her battle with cancer a few months ago,” Davis wrote.
Allen was engaged to be married, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family and pay funeral expenses.