Apr 17, 2008 6:17 pm US/Central
Joliet Father Killed By Stray Gunfire
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Alfredo Lopez was hit and killed by stray gunfire while walking into a Walgreens with his two sons the evening of April 16, 2008.
CBS
A father was fatally shot walking with his two young sons Wednesday night in the second murder in Joliet this year.
CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports police are furious over the senseless crime.
"We're not going to allow these punks to take over the city of Joliet," said Joliet Police Chief Fred Hayes.
Hayes says a man firing wildly at other gang members ended up killing Alfredo Lopez, an innocent father of three.
The 40-year-old had just pulled up at the Walgreens to pick up school supplies for his two sons. The 8- and 11-year-old children were with their father when he was shot in the parking lot.
"I can't imagine what could possibly be going through those young boys' mind, to see their father tragically struck down and killed in front of their very own eyes" Hayes said.
Police say the boys were too traumatized to give full statements Wednesday night, but one child did describe seeing his father's heart-wrenching end in the parking lot.
"They said that their dad had taken them by the hand and then they heard the shots being fired out," Hayes said. "One of the boys said that he felt his dad go limp and fall to the pavement."
After their father was shot the boys ran into the Walgreen's out of fear for their lives.
Police say Daniel Huizar is the suspected killer. Police say he was working in the nearby Subway sandwich shop when he leapt from behind the counter and ran outside and started shooting at other gang members.
But no gang member was hit, just the hard-working Joliet father.
Huizar is now the subject of an intense manhunt. He is wanted on a $5 million arrest warrant.
(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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