Jul 17, 2008 7:04 pm US/Central
16-year-old Fatally Gunned Down In Joliet Drive-by
JOLIET, Ill. (STNG) ―
A 16-year-old boy died Wednesday night after he was shot in the face in southwest suburban Joliet.
A junior at Joliet Central High School, Raul Zavala was planning to go to college to become a police officer.
"He wanted to stop people from doing ... what happened to him," his sister, Lucia Zavala said as she burst into tears.
Zavala, 16, was killed Wednesday night when gang members opened fire driving past Desmond Park at the southeast corner of Henderson Avenue and Columbia Street.
The Will County Coroner's office identified the victim as Raul Zavala-Aguirre, of 663 N. Abe St. in Joliet.
"(Zavala) had some problems recently with gang members harassing him," Police Chief Fred Hayes said. "There is no indication the victim has gang association."
At 8:45 p.m. Zavala and three friends were hanging out in the park, when a car that has been described as a maroon or red four-door passed by, heading north on Henderson Avenue.
"There were three Hispanic or white men in the car who flashed gang signs," Hayes said. "After the vehicle went by, a passenger leaned out the window and began shooting back toward the park."
One of the bullets struck Zavala in the face as he was near the wooden sign that bears the name of the park.
"(Police) recovered five spent shell casings from a semi-automatic handgun at the scene, " Hayes said.
The passing car continued north on Henderson Avenue and was last seen headed east on Woodruff Road.
Zavala was taken to Silver Cross Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11 p.m. Reports indicate he was not responsive following the shooting.
Several people were around the park to witness the shooting, police said. Officers had visited the area about an hour before the shooting after receiving a complaint of loud music coming from a black van, but no one was at the park when police arrived.
Lucia Zavala said her brother frequently enjoyed going to Desmond Park.
"He also liked to play PlayStation a lot," she said.
Gladys Zavala, Raul's sister-in-law, said he recently spent time fixing up a used car.
"His brother gave him a Nissan Maxima to work on ... since (Raul) was about to get his license," she said.
"Whatever people he met fell in love with him," Gladys Zavala said. "Nobody's going to forget him."
On Thursday, Gladys and Lucia smiled and cried as they looked at pictures Raul had taken of himself on Lucia's digital camera.
"Now look what happened to him. He was innocent," Lucia said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call detectives at (815) 724-3020 or anonymously call CrimeStoppers at (800) 323-6734.
--Herald News
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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