CHICAGO (CBS) — A shooting on the Stevenson Expressway Wednesday morning left two people injured, and left their car riddled with more than a dozen bullet holes on the hood and windshield alone.
As CBS 2’s Marissa Parra reported, the victims were driving along the Stevenson near Cicero Avenue when their car was shot repeatedly.
The 46-year-old woman and the 20-year-old man in the car were both wounded. Despite being shot in the abdomen, the woman was still able to drive three miles west to a Shell gas station off Harlem Avenue, where the victims asked for help and were taken to a hospital.
The car they left behind had not one, not two, but eight different shots puncturing just the windshield.
This now makes the fourth expressway shooting in the Chicago area since Saturday – including one on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 43rd Street on Monday, and one on the Edens Expressway near Tower Road in Northfield two days earlier. A 16-year-old Wisconsin girl was injured in the Edens Expressway shooting.
In total, Illinois State Police have responded to 36 expressway shootings so far this year. This same time last year, that number was 11.
The shooting left southwest-bound lanes of I-55 at a standstill for hours. All lanes of I-55 southbound at Pulaski Road were shut down at approximately 9:30 a.m. and did not reopen until around 11:20 a.m.
Meanwhile, neighbors who heard the ambulances were rattled.
“I didn’t think anything of it, then I started hearing helicopters and then I just had to turn on the news. I immediately saw that it was, you know, 53rd and Harlem. I’m like, ‘Wait, that’s on the corner there,’” said Gerardo Benitez. “It definitely makes you worried. Hopefully, everybody’s fine.”
Parra learned late Wednesday afternoon that the car was registered with a company called Drive Sally. The company lends cars to rideshare drivers for services such as Uber and Lyft.
At last check, both victims remained in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Chicago Police said they assisted state police in tracking a person who fled the scene, and while there are no arrests and no charges, the CPD does have that person detained for questioning.
Anyone who witnessed the shooting or have any knowledge of the shooting is asked to contact state police at (847) 294-4400.
