Chicago Shootings: Brothers killed, teen wounded on North Side minutes apart
CHICAGO (CBS) – Two people are dead and another is wounded in separate shootings just minutes apart on the city's North Side Wednesday night.
Police said around 10 p.m., two brothers, a man, later identified by the Medical Examiner's Office as Benjamin O'Neal, 20, and a boy, identified as Jonathan O'Neal, 17, were standing in an alley, in the 4800 block of North Ashland Avenue, when a car drove up and an unknown suspect inside started shooting.
Both were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with multiple gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead.
Family members told CBS 2 they believe the younger sibling was lured outside by the suspect who were apparent friends of his.
A neighbor we spoke to, who didn't want to show his face, said he heard between eight and ten gunshots.
"We just heard screaming and we went out to check what was going on, most of the neighbors out here. And we tried to do our best to resuscitate them and to just help," he said.
A memorial of balloons, flowers and candles sit at the site where the two brothers were killed.
Family members described Benjamin and Jonathan as those who stood up to bullies. They believe the shooting was a result of some sort of retaliation.
"You took away their right to grow into adulthood, to experience the world, to have families, to experience future holidays with families," said cousin Paul Carrasquillo. "And making their parents grandchildren. Who took that away from them, all for some selfish and unjustifiable reason."
Also, a cousin of the victims told CBS 2 that after the younger O'Neal was shot, the gunman stripped him of a $300 Northface jacket and took off with it.
"We are hoping to get down to this right away," said Leon Albritton, a cousin of the victims. "These kids are around here somewhere and we have pretty good descriptions. We have names. We have trails on social media, so we're looking."
Twenty minutes prior to the double shooting, a 15-year-old boy was also shot about five blocks away.
The teen was walking on the sidewalk, in the 4300 block of North Ashland Avenue, when someone driving by fired shots, according to police.
He was also taken to Illinois Masonic in good condition with a graze wound to the back.
Police haven't confirmed with the shootings were connected, only that they are still investigating.
No one is in custody in either shooting.
The family of Benjamin and Johnathan O'Neal set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses.
