Well-known fruit vendor killed in Little Village shooting with wife, baby just steps away, neighbors say
The man killed in a Little Village shooting Wednesday was a well-known neighborhood fruit vendor with a wife and new baby who were just steps away when gunfire erupted, neighbors said.
Neighbors identified the victim as a fruit vendor called Coco. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as Antonio Padilla, 46, of Chicago. There is now a growing memorial on the busy stretch of West 26th Street where he was shot and killed around 4:30 p.m. yesterday.
Three women were also injured in the shooting.
"All of a sudden you hear what sounded like fireworks," said neighbor Estella Aguilera. "You always want to assume-- it's like boom, boom, boom, fireworks."
"Not just gunshots, we're talking 20, 30, 40 gunshots in less than 10 seconds," said Allyson Aguilera.
The mother and daughter run a bridal and quinceañera shop next door. They said they knew the victim and were among the first to run toward the gunfire.
"My second instinct was to go check, go help the people because it's a very busy corner," Estella said.
"I saw him on the ground and he was struggling to breathe, and I saw him like take his last breath," said Allyson.
Coco sold fruit on the corner every summer, and was a familiar face to customers and neighboring businesses.
"From the neighborhood, you see him at the grocery store, the Dunkin donuts, the gas station," Allyson said.
The Aguileras said Coco's wife and baby were in a nearby truck when the shooting happened.
"I just couldn't believe it because his son is one years old," said Allyson. "I just kept thinking about the baby like, oh man, now he doesn't have a father."
Police said the 46-year-old victim was shot multiple times and later died at the hospital. The Aguileras said there were several children around and a growing crowd when the gunfire broke out. It is the second mass shooting in less than a week; the first was at a West Garfield Park barbershop where four people were shot, three fatally, on Friday.
Of the injured victims, CBS News Chicago has been told two of them women were also vendors on 26th Street and the third was a customer. What motivated the shooting is still not clear.
Meantime, police released surveillance video showing a car and two people of interest in the shooting. The video shows the car pull into a gas station, where one man gets out and goes inside, while the other waits to pump gas.
Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest in this case.