WEST PULLMAN — An off-duty firefighter who was among six people shot after a Far South Side birthday party last year has died from his wounds.
Timothy Eiland, 33, died Monday at South Suburban Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Fire Department. He lived in suburban Country Club Hills and had five children, according to the Sun-Times and medical examiner.
“This senseless act has changed the fabric of Tim Eiland’s family, our department and our city,” fire officials said in a tweet.
The shooting occurred about 9:30 p.m. Sept. 11 in the 300 block of East Kensington Avenue, police said.
Eiland’s sister, Elishama Wright, told the Sun-Times she, her brother and 15-year-old daughter were leaving a surprise birthday party for her nephew when she heard what she thought were firecrackers. As the sounds got louder, people started running and screaming, Wright said. She saw her brother on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound in his face, she told the Sun-Times. Her teen daughter later ran up to her, crying and bleeding from a gunshot wound in her arm.
Eiland was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.
Schenia Smith, 42, a mom from suburban Dolton, died after she was shot in her arm and armpit in the attack, police said.
Three other men were wounded in the attack, police said.
The Black Fire Brigade held a benefit for Eiland about a month after he was shot, and his family launched a fundraiser to help support his wife and children.
Credit: GoFundMe
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