A man was shot Nov. 9, 2021, in Hyde Park. | Sun-Times file
The victim was a 24-year-old U. of C. graduate. In the earlier incident, activist Jahmal Cole said he was nearby and had to run to dodge the bullets.
A man was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon during an attempted robbery in Hyde Park, a few blocks north of the University of Chicago campus.
The man, 24, was on the sidewalk in the 900 block of East 54th Street when a dark-colored car pulled up and a gunman got out shortly before 2 p.m., Chicago police said.
Witnesses told officers the man struggled with the robber and a shot went off, according to preliminary information from the scene. The man was hit in the chest and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said the robber got back in the car, which fled west on 54th Place.
The man was a recent graduate of the university, according to the school, which said campus police were increasing patrols in the area.
About two hours earlier, just blocks away, businesses and cars were damaged by gunfire. The shots were fired from a Hyundai Sonata about 12:10 p.m. at 53rd Street and South Harper Avenue, according to a security alert from the University of Chicago.
No injuries were reported, but several cars and two businesses were damaged by gunfire, the alert said. The Sonata had been reported stolen Monday, according to the alert.
Jahmal Cole, founder of My Block My Hood My City and a U.S. Congressional candidate, posted on Facebook that shots flew in his direction during the incident.
“I want to be clear that, I am not sure if I was an intended target today or if it was a random shooting,” Cole said in the post. “Regardless, this is unacceptable.”
Police declined to comment on Cole’s post.
Just before noon Tuesday, Cole was walking to Nando’s for a lunch meeting when he heard shots, Block Club Chicago reported. Cole dove under a car to avoid being hit and scraped his neck doing so, though he wasn’t struck by gunfire, he said on Facebook.
Cole also said in the post that he’d been shot in the arm less than a month ago. He hadn’t shared information about the first shooting because he “wasn’t ready, dealing with my trauma everyday still.
“I’m tired of running for my life,” he said.
