Police continue to investigate circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of a 73-year-old man found in the back yard of his home on the North Side early Sunday.
Robert Ferris, of 4333 N. Western Ave., was found shot to death in his back yard, the Cook County Medical Examiner said. Ferris was pronounced dead on the scene.
The incident happened about 5 a.m. in the 4300 block of North Western Avenue, according to police News Affairs.
Police responded to a call to assist the Chicago Fire Department and discovered a 73-year-old man unresponsive with gunshot wounds, police said.
Police Sunday evening said the investigation is ongoing, and the circumstances surrounding Farris' death remained unclear. Belmont Area detectives are conducting a homicide investigation.
•AN INDIANA MAN is accused of battering his 6-month-old daughter, including breaking her femur in two.
Ramsey Lewis, 25, of 6519 Madison Ave., is charged with neglect, aggravated battery and battery. In addition to the fresh broken leg, the baby had healing breaks on her left forearm, heel bone and collarbone, along with bruises on her face and inside her ear.
Lewis brought his daughter, Danielle, to St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago on Aug. 14 with a broken femur. The child was admitted for treatment.
The child had been admitted in May for suspected abdominal trauma -- at that time Lewis said she was hit by a football at his cousin's house which "messed her insides up,'' court records state. The child suffered trauma to her kidney and is now at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis.
Dr. Antoinette Laskey, assistant professor of pediatrics and a forensic pediatrician at the Indiana School of Medicine, on staff at Riley, said the injuries were intentionally inflicted and that the girl "is at a high risk of further injury or death'' if returned to its caregiver.
Lewis said the baby injured herself Aug. 14 when she fell from the swing with her leg caught and landed face-first. The baby's mother, Emilia Rivas, told police she left for work at 10:30 a.m. and got a call from her uncle at 4:45 p.m. that Ramsey came to his house and said the baby had fallen.
Laskey dismissed as implausible Lewis' account of how the infant was injured, the probable cause affidavits states. The broken ribs would be consistent with being squeezed by the chest. As for the broken leg, Laskey said in court records, "the person with the child when this bone was broken likely heard and/or felt it occur."
The felony charges are punishable by a maximum 20-year sentence.
•A 36-YEAR-OLD HANDYMAN of a building in the South Side Kenwood neighborhood has been charged with attempted murder and home invasion, after he allegedly forced his way into an apartment and stabbed two residents in a robbery.
Thaddeus Gunnell's bond was denied Sunday.
The two victims, a 48-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman, are both at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in "fair" and "guarded" conditions, police say.
Gunnell, a handyman in the building on the 5000 block of South Cornell Avenue, and who was known to the victims, entered their apartment Saturday morning about 6:05 a.m., according to police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.
Gunnell was armed with a knife and demanded money from the woman, Kubiak said. She refused, and was stabbed multiple times. The man was stabbed multiple times, as well, while attempting to aid the woman, Kubiak said.
Gunnell fled with some of the victims' belongings and was taken into custody a short distance away by Prairie District officers. The knife was recovered by police, Kubiak said.
Gunnell, of the 300 block of 154th Place in Calumet City, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of home invasion, Kubiak said. Charges were approved Saturday night.
•A MAN IN HIS 20s died late Saturday, shortly after he was found shot multiple times on a sidewalk in the South Side's South Shore neighborhood.
About 10:30 p.m., police responded to a call of shots fired on the 6900 block of South Jeffery Boulevard, and found the victim on a sidewalk, with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak. He was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m., according to a spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner.
Calumet Area detectives are investigating. There are no suspects.
•A MAN AND A WOMAN were shot on a West Englewood street on the South Side early Sunday.
The shooting, about 3:45 a.m., happened at 64th Street and Hoyne Avenue, according to police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.
A 25-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were shot, Kubiak said. They were both taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where the woman is listed in “good condition” and the man's condition is reported as "stable."
The man was shot in the left shoulder and neck area and the woman was shot in the upper left thigh.
Wentworth Area detectives are investigating. •A MAN WAS WOUNDED Saturday night in shooting in the Kelvyn Park neighborhood.
The 23-year-old, standing in the 2100 bock of North Karlov Avenue was shot about 8 p.m., police said.
He is in “good” condition at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County with a gunshot wound to the arm. He told police he heard shots and felt pain.
Grand Central Area detectives are investigating, but there are no suspects and no known motive.
•THE MAN FOUND SLUMPED over the wheel of his vehicle early Friday in Hickory Hills was shot to death, officials confirm.
About 3:20 a.m., a patrol car noticed a pick-up truck crashed into an iron gate of the Mount Glenwood Cemetery in the 8300 block of South Keane Avenue, Hickory Hills police Lt. Mark Zvokel said.
Inside was 46-year-old Marco Sarchioto, of Justice, slumped over the steering wheel and unresponsive, Zvokel said.
Paramedics arrived on the scene and tried to revive Sarchioto, but he was pronounced dead upon arrival at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with a gunshot wound to the right torso, Zvokel said.
Sarchioto’s death was ruled a homicide Saturday by the Cook County Medical Examiner, Zvokel said.
A source said it appeared the man was shot outside of the vehicle and attempted to drive away when he crashed.
Sarchioto had no known gang-ties. Zvokel said no one is in custody.
A 16-YEAR-OLD BOY police say had a gun was fatally shot by officers Friday night in the Burnside neighborhood.
Martinez Winford, of 844 E. 84th St., was pronounced dead at Christ Hospital at 8:34 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The shooting happened at 651 E. 89th St., according to Independent Police Review Authority spokesman Mark Payne.
Police initially responded to a report of a man with a gun at the address. When officers confronted the subject, who was armed, an officer fired shots, striking the him, police said.
Winford was taken in "critical" condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Richard Rosado, who said he was in the street when emergency crews arrived.
Police said a weapon was recovered from the scene and no other injuries were reported.
IPRA and Calumet Area detectives are investigating.
•A MAN WAS CRITICALLY WOUNDED in a drive-by shooting Friday night in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
The shooting happened about 10:15 p.m. at 1642 N. Vine St., according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Richard Rosado. The victim is in "critical" condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, he said.
The shooting appeared to be a drive-by, according to police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer. Shots were fired by a red-colored vehicle, Greer said.
Police dispatch reports indicate a 22-year-old man was shot in the right torso but was talking and conscious when emergency crews arrived. Belmont-Area detectives are investigating.
• CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED in the fatal hit-and-run of a 40-year old Des Plaines motorcyclist.
Jovanny Lopez has been charged with failure to report an accident involving death or injury in the death of John Reffke.
Reffke was on his way to a friend's house on West Addison when police say the pickup Lopez was driving ran a stop sign. The truck was found abandoned about a mile away from the scene.
Reffke's father also died in a motorcycle accident on Lake Shore Drive in 1968.
Reffke is the 16th motorcyclist killed in Cook County this year.
Bond was set at $1 million dollars Saturday. Lopez, of the 5300 block of West Drummond Place, was charged with failure to report an accident involving death or injury.
Lopez's next scheduled court date is Friday. • A MAN WAS SHOT attempting to break up a Friday night fight in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
The shooting happened about 10:15 p.m. at 1642 N. Vine St., according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Richard Rosado.
The victim observed two people having a verbal altercation when he approached and separated them, police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien said. The two went their separate ways, and one of them got into a maroon-colored vehicle, O'Brien said.
As the vehicle fled, shots were fired, striking the victim.
He is in Northwestern Memorial Hospital in "good" condition.
Police dispatch reports indicate the 22-year-old man was shot in the right torso but was talking and conscious when emergency crews arrived.
Belmont Area detectives are investigating. • A NINE-YEAR HAMMOND POLICE VETERAN is hospitalized after being beaten unconscious by an apparently unstable homeless man, who claims to be from Blue Island.
Cpl. Tom Sawyer is in “stable” condition at St. Margaret's hospital, recovering from head injuries apparently inflicted by a 31-year-old man who had flagged down the officer near Sibley Street and Hohman Avenue in Hammond, Chief Brian Miller said.
Officer Brian Campos, who spotted the 5-foot-10 man stomping and kicking the unconscious Sawyer, then struggled with the attacker and has minor shoulder injuries, Miller said.
The suspect and a passer-by who helped Campos subdue the suspect were not injured. The suspect was taken to the city jail and is being held on probable cause for attempted murder.
The man was not identified pending formal charges, which could be filed as soon as today, Miller said.
"Officer Campos just happened to be driving back to the station when he saw Sawyer and intervened," Miller said. "There was no radio call, just when Sawyer said he was stepping out to contact (the suspect).
"I firmly believe officer Campos saved (Sawyer's) life," he added. "We were incredibly lucky."
Sawyer reported a man flagging him down in his marked squad car around 1 p.m. near Sibley Street and Hohman Avenue. The man became increasingly agitated, and apparently lunged at Sawyer when the officer approached him and asked him for identification.
The man knocked Sawyer to the ground and was kicking and stomping Sawyer when Campos arrived. The man told witnesses and Campos to stay away "or I'll kill you, too," Miller said.
"Witnesses said (the suspect) was just a man possessed," the chief said.
Campos fired his Taser at the man, but the jolt did not appear to faze him. The two grappled for several minutes, and Campos was able to handcuff the man with the aid of the passer-by.
The man, who gave his address as Blue Island, Ill., but is believed to be living on the street in Hammond, was calm and polite throughout the booking process, Miller said. The man's criminal record included only a misdemeanor arrest and a handful of traffic tickets.
Sawyer, a longtime police officer, served in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, Miller said.
• THE BODY OF A MAN was found near in Lake Michigan near the Adler Planetarium Saturday afternoon.
About 12:15 p.m., the police Marine Unit received reports of a body floating in the lake, just about a quarter-mile from the Adler Planetarium, police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien said.
• A NORTHWEST INDIANA MAN has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for his role in the armed robbery of a Gary auto store in 2007.
Patrick Holloway, 26, of Gary, pleaded guilty to robbery and resisting law enforcement on on Aug. 1 and was sentenced to 23 years in prison Friday, according to Lake County Prosecutor Bernard A. Carter.
Holloway and co-defendant Jeremy Hill, 22, of Chicago, attempted to rob a Gary auto store at gunpoint on Sept. 24, 2007. One man was shot and wounded in the incident.
Holloway and Hill fled the robbery in a stolen vehicle from the auto shop. Hill was already sentenced to 10 years in prison for his participation in the crime.
• A MAYWOOD TEEN is charged as adult for shooting two in Cicero.
Leonel Zambrano, 16, is held on $200,000 bond after being charged as an adult for allegedly shooting two people in what police believe was a gang-related incident.
He was taken into custody along with a 17-year-old after they allegedly raided an apartment and barricaded themselves inside after the shooting. The 17-year-old was not charged, according to Cicero town spokesman Dan Proft.
At the Maywood courthouse Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge James Zafiratos set the $200,000 bond for Zambrano of 5115 W. 25th Ave. in Cicero, according to Cook County State's Attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin.
Prosecutors allege that about 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Zambrano was at the home of his friend's grandmother when he found a .22-caliber rifle, took it outside and started shooting, Conklin said, citing court records. They then fled back into the grandmother's apartment.
About 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, he allegedly shot two people near the 1900 block of South 51st Avenue, Proft said.
The teen and his 17-year-old male accomplice then ran into a first-floor apartment at 1904 S. 51st Ave., pushed the tenant out and barricaded themselves inside, he said. The tenant was uninjured.
Cicero police called the Cook County Sheriff’s police hostage team, which talked the teens out of the apartment about 1 a.m. Wednesday, Proft said. Police did not fire any shots.
A search of the apartment turned up the rifle and the spent cartridges, Conklin said, citing court records.
The shooting that sparked the standoff left two males hospitalized, Proft said. One was treated and released at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn for a gunshot wound to the leg, while the other remains in “stable” condition in Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the back, Proft said.
Police believe the shooting was gang-related, he said. Zambrano’s hearing is Tuesday in Maywood, Conklin said.
Contents of this site are Copyright 2008 by WBBM. The STNG wire contributed to this report.
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