A 14-year-old boy was fatally shot during an exchange of gunfire with several individuals in a vehicle in North Chicago Sunday night and police later arrested three people in connection with the shooting after their vehicle crashed in the parking lot of a Waukegan Home Depot store, officials said.
The Lake County Major Crime Task Force is handling the investigation, which spans from North Chicago to Waukegan, according to a news release from Heather Cognac, a sergeant with Wauconda police and a spokeswoman for the major crimes task force.
North Chicago police initially responded to a Citgo gas station at the corner of 10th and Jackson streets around 5:15 p.m. for a report of shots fired near the 1000 block of South Jackson Street, officials said. When they arrived they found the 14-year-old suffering critical injuries; he was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the news release.
“Preliminary investigation shows the victim was at the Citgo station on Jackson Street when he engaged with several occupants of a vehicle in the Citgo parking lot. An occupant of the vehicle and the juvenile victim exchanged gunfire and the vehicle fled the area,” Cognac’s statement said.
Officers in Waukegan located the vehicle involved in the shootout at the gas station, however, police did not release a description of the color, style, make, model or year of that vehicle.
Officials said “a short time later” it crashed “in the parking lot of the Waukegan Home Depot.”
At least three people that had been inside the vehicle took off running and later were located inside the store and arrested, Cognac said.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office had not performed an autopsy as of Monday morning and the teen has not been identified, officials said.
North Chicago police asked the Lake County Major Crime Task Force to assist with the investigation, Cognac said. Anyone with information should contact the North Chicago Police Department or leave an anonymous tip with Lake County CrimeStoppers at 847-662-2222 or online at www.lakecountycrimestoppers.com.
