Two men were shot at Glenwood and Morse avenues in Rogers Park about 11:15 a.m. Tuesday. One man was killed. The other survived thanks to quick thinking by a bar owner who was celebrating his birthday.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Relaxing on his 47th birthday wasn’t in the cards for Erik Archambeault as the day took an unexpected turn.
Shortly before noon Tuesday, Archambeault heard gunshots and ran to help a man walking his dog who got caught in crossfire when a shooter jumped out of a car and opened fire, killing James Craig Smith Jr. and injuring the dog walker.
Both Smith, 33, and the 41-year-old dog walker were shot in the back.
They were in the 6900 block of North Glenwood Avenue, near the Morse Red Line station, when a gunman got out of a gray Ford Edge, approached and began firing shots in their direction, police said.
“My general manager and I were working, and we heard pop, pop, pop. I was like, ‘Those are gunshot! Duck!’” said Archambeault, who lives in Rogers Park and owns a bar and a gift shop on Glenwood.
Surveillance footage showed the man walking his dog down North Glenwood Avenue before tumbling to the ground near Smith, who had also collapsed.
The shooter, who had chased Smith before shooting him, sped away in the Ford, according to a police report.
Archambeault was in his bar, Rogers Park Social, and ran outside after he heard “nine to 12 gunshots” and saw the dog walker “walking quickly down the street,” toward the bar, crying out that he had been shot.
“I was like, ‘Get inside, lay on the couch, and let me look at your wound,” Archambeault said.
Archambeault grabbed towels to put pressure on the wound, while the general manager, 41-year-old Wally Andersen, brought ice. They stayed with him until paramedics arrived.
Both victims were shot in the back and were taken by paramedics to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the fire department.
An autopsy performed Wednesday determined that Smith, who lives in Broadview, died of multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Ald. Maria Hadden (49th), whose office is near the L station, said on social media that the shooting “appears to be targeted.”
“One individual on foot going after another individual. Someone else was hit with a bullet,” Hadden said.
Alicia Lopez, 55, of Rogers Park, was working the front desk at a foot and ankle clinic next to the train station when she witnessed the attack.
“I just saw two guys. They were shooting at each other,” she said.
No one is in custody.
Archambeault said that he’s unfortunately “grown accustomed” to shootings. The stretch of Morse Avenue has seen two shootings in the last month, he said.
When he hears gunshots, Archambeault knows to “duck and protect.” He said he has expressed concerns about safety to the police before. “We see stuff the police don’t,” he said.
Likewise, Andersen, from Rogers Park, said he is hopeful that he will see more preventive measures.
“This is not the first time that we’ve been involved with something like this,” Archambeault said.
He looked after the dog walker’s pet until the owner was released from the hospital.
“It was a crazy birthday — a lot more energy than I anticipated putting in,” he said.