Man fatally shot while playing basketball on Englewood street identified as 26-year-old Malcolm Gayles Jr.

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 11:42:44 -0500

Two men were playing basketball in the street in Englewood last week when a vehicle drive by, someone started shooting, leaving Malcolm Gayles Jr. dead and a man critically wounded.

The men were playing ball at 3:07 p.m. June 6 in the 5800 block of South Shields when a light-colored Chevrolet Impala drove up and someone sitting in the backseat started shooting, according to Chicago Police.

One man, identified Monday as the 26-year-old Gayles, was shot in the torso and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:51 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the South Side Washington Park neighborhood.

A 30-year-old man was shot in the chin and left leg, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.

No one was in custody as of Monday morning.

The victim's father, Malcolm Gayles Sr., wrote on Facebook: "...My son is no longer in this world. ... My son is gone, taken out by gun violence. He never ever had his head on dumb street shit. No intentions of harming anyone or anything. ... He was shot and killed for no reason at all. I know one thing he will not be in the slightest forgotten."

Funeral services for Malcolm Patrick Matthew Jamal Gayles Jr. will be conducted Saturday, June 17, at Elim Christian Church at 2735 W. 79th St. The wake will be at 10 a.m. and the funeral at 10:30 a.m.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire and Homicide Watch Chicago

Malcolm Gayles Jr. | Homicide Watch Chicago

Man fatally shot while playing basketball on Englewood street identified as 26-year-old Malcolm Gayles Jr.