ROGERS PARK — The same gun was used in two separate Rogers Park murders this week, Chicago Police revealed Tuesday as they announced plans to saturate the neighborhood with officers to catch the masked killer.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, speaking at a news conference in Rogers Park with Mayor Rahm Emanuel at his side, said the bullets came from the same gun and were likely fired by the same killer.
“We must come together,” Johnson said as he implored anyone who knows anything about the murders to come forward.
“I can ensure you that the person or persons responsible will be brought to justice.”
Police also released a surveillance photo of the suspected killer, a man with a thin build in dark clothing with a black mask over his face.
“This person is clearly trying to disguise himself,” Johnson said. “He or she knows what they are going out to do and they are trying to hide themselves.”
The victims were killed Sunday morning and Monday night, just blocks apart from each other near Lake Michigan.
At 10:20 p.m. Monday, Eliyahu Moscowitz, 24, was shot in the head near the lakefront trail at Lunt Avenue.
The day before, 73-year-old Douglass Watts was shot dead while walking his dogs just blocks away in the 1400 block of West Sherwin Avenue, police said.
He had been shot once in his head at just after 10 a.m.
Police said the killer ran west on Sherwin Avenue after the shooting and the south into an alley to get away.
Johnson said there is no indication that the victims knew each other or were connected in any way.
Police are still reviewing surveillance video from the area around the murders, Johnson said.
In response to the murders, Chicago Police will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Loyola Park, 1230 W. Greenleaf Ave., to update the community on the case.
“I ask you to be safe, alert, and vigilant until the offender is apprehended,” Osterman wrote in a community alert.
“Each of these senseless deaths leaves a hole in the fabric of our community,” Rep. Kelly Cassidy, whose district includes Rogers Park, wrote in a post on Facebook. “I grieve with my neighbors & resolve to continue to push for smarter policies & solutions. I’ve said that many in our community live with easier access to guns than hope. We have to reverse that & restore our communities.”
Ald. Joe Moore (49th) and his opponent in the upcoming election, Maria Hadden, also wrote about the recent violence, with Moore telling residents the Sunday shooting was possibly part of an attempted robbery and Hadden calling on community members to come together.
Hadden also encouraged locals to donate to a GoFundMe to pay for the funeral of the 73-year-old man killed Sunday. That campaign raised more than $3,000 in less than one day.
