MORGAN PARK — A 65-year-old retired Chicago firefighter was fatally shot Thursday afternoon during an attempted carjacking on the Southwest Side, according to police.
The firefighter was Dwain Williams, said Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
About 2 p.m., Williams was leaving Let’s Get Poppin’, a family-owned popcorn shop at 11758 S. Western Ave., and walking back to his car when four people got out of a four-door, dark-colored sedan came up and confronted him, Brian McDermott, police chief of operations, told reporters at the scene, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Williams was shot in his stomach during an exchange of gunfire, McDermott said.
He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead at about 2:45 p.m., McDermott said.
No arrests have been made. The men drove west on 118th, McDermott said. Detectives are looking for witnesses and video to track down the men, McDermott said.
Williams joined the Fire Department in 1992, Langford said. His last assignment before retiring was at the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. He lived in Longwood Manor.
The fatal shooting comes amid a surge of carjackings that has plagued the city all year.
Carjackings have more than doubled throughout the city in 2020 compared to 2019. Some districts have recorded three to four times the number of carjackings this year, which has prompted the Police Department to redeploy a citywide task force to combat the issue.
Police ask for anyone with information about this shooting to contact cpdtip.com. Tips can remain anonymous.
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