By ASHLEE REZIN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Gene Gordon | Facebook
Seventy-eight-year-old Gene Gordon was shot and killed Thursday evening while walking home from a store in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, but he was not the shooter’s intended target.
About 4:45 p.m., the great-grandafather was at the corner of 68th and Hermitage walking home when a group of males in a light-colored car pulled up and someone inside fired shots, hitting him in the head, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Gordon was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 5:45 p.m., authorities said. A police source said the shooter was trying to hit a young man nearby.
The shooting happened a few blocks from Gordon’s home, and was returning from a store on Ashland when he was shot.
Police investigate after a 78-year-old man was fatally shot Thursday afternoon while walking near 68th and Hermitage in West Englewood. | Ashlee Rezin / Chicago Sun-Times
Gordon had lived in West Englewood for more than 50 years, one of the first blacks to move into the neighborhood, a neighbor said. He was married with four kids, and had 10 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A man, who asked not be identified, was outside on his porch when he heard people arguing, and then heard about six gunshots. Gordon fell near a stop sign at the corner.
The resident said it was the third time he has heard shooting at that corner in the last few months. He added that it was unusual for the block.
A young girl played on the sidewalk near the crime scene. She was excited to see a TV news camera and asked if it would be on television. Two blocks of Hermitage on either side of 68th Street had cleared out after the shooting, and residents had gone inside their homes.
James Poole, a community activist with Chicago Against Violence, stood across the street from the corner holding a flag that read “All Lives Matter.”
“These blocks are usually full of people,” he said. “Now there’s no one. It’s sad.”
Community activist Andrew Homes said a $2,000 reward was being offered for information leading to Gordon’s killer. Anyone with information should call (800) 883-5587.