Sept. 21--A man was shot and killed in the backyard of his apartment building in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side overnight, touching off a police chase that ended in a crash, police said.
Efrain Cruz, 25, was behind his home in the 3200 block of West LeMoyne Street when someone approached and opened fire around 11:40 p.m. Thursday, officials said.
About half an hour later, officers spotted a gray SUV in the neighborhood that matched the description of one seen near the shooting and started chasing it, police said.
The SUV crashed at North and Central Park avenues, blocks from the shooting. Four people were taken into custody, including one who jumped out of the SUV and tried to run, officials said. Three officers suffered minor injuries, police said.
Officers who had been investigating the homicide ran to their cars after hearing about the chase on their radios. Other officers in the area sped through the neighborhood.
"All of a sudden I saw a lot of blue and whites here," said Paolo Oyola, 38. He was standing east of the intersection on North Avenue with his wife when he heard sirens and a "boom."
"I said, 'Man, I think something's going to happen soon,' " he said.
Police said the SUV had been stolen, and detectives were investigating whether it is connected to the slaying on LeMoyne Street, but it appears that it is not connected. Charges and citations are pending against the four occupants, police said.
Cruz was among at least five people shot since Thursday afternoon.
--On the Far South Side, two men were shot on a front porch in the 200 block of West 106th Street in the Roseland neighborhood about 8 p.m.
One of them, Damien Clayton, 28, was fatally shot in the head and a second man, 47, was wounded in the forearm, police said.
A gunman approached on foot from a neighboring gangway, opened fire and fled, police said.
Clayton, of the 7700 block of South South Shore Drive, was taken in "very critical" condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 11:14 p.m.
The other man was taken to Roseland Community Hospital in fair-to-serious condition, said Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Meg Ahlheim.
--A 54-year-old man was wounded in the Longwood Manor neighborhood about 11:05 p.m., police said. He was arguing with another man when he was shot in the 100 block of West 95th Street. He was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in good condition.
--A 17-year-old boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital after getting shot several times in the leg in the 1500 block of South Lawndale Avenue about 2:20 p.m. Thursday. Police had no details.
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