By ASHLEE REZIN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Norman W. White | Facebook
A man shot to death by a would-be robber while talking to the driver of a Pace paratransit van early Tuesday in the Avalon Park neighborhood on the South Side has been identified as Norman W. White.
The 50-year-old White was standing in the lot of a gas station at 3:17 a.m. in the 8300 block of South Stony Island, talking to the driver of the Pace minivan, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Police said White was awaiting a ride on the van, but family members said White once worked for the company that provides drivers, and was talking to the driver of the van, a friend and former coi-worker.
Another man walked up to him, forced him into the van at gunpoint, then tried to take his cell phone, police said.
The suspect then fired shots, striking White in the right arm, chest and back. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:10 a.m., authorities said. He lived in the South Chicago neighborhood.
Scott Jackson, a friend, wrote on Facebook: “Norman White worked for my company in the past. He was a good man and didn’t deserve to die over a cell phone!
“Chicago and society’s values have degraded as a whole to the point that few things could revive it.
Over a cell phone? I hope they catch the guy but they probably won’t. Terrible, terrible tragedy for him and his family.”
Pace said there were no other passengers on board at the time of the shooting.
“We are deeply saddened by the shooting that occurred early this morning,” a statement from Pace spokeswoman Maggie Daly Skogsbakken said.
“At this time, we are focusing our efforts on supporting those involved and assisting law enforcement’s investigation in any way we can. We are able to report that no passengers were on board at the time of the incident, and our contractor employee was not harmed,” Skogsbakken said.
Area South detectives were conducting a homicide investigation.