Family mourns brother found shot to death after apparently witnessing University Village car break-in

CHICAGO - A Pilsen family is devastated and searching for answers after their brother was shot and killed over the weekend in University Village.

Salvador Herrera, 42, was driving home from a bartending shift in the suburbs early Sunday when he was shot by a group breaking into a parked car, family says.

His family is frustrated with a police investigation that hasn’t named any suspects.

"I’m enraged and want justice," his sister Marcelina Herrera said Wednesday. "I don’t want my brother to be just another news story."

Police say officers were called to the 700 block of South Loomis Street and found Herrera slumped over the wheel of his car.

Officers noticed his car’s engine was smoking and then realized that Herrera had a gunshot wound to his upper back, according to a police report.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:53 a.m., the report states.

Witnesses told police that they heard gunshots and saw four male suspects running west from Loomis into an alley, the report states. They apparently were breaking into a Hyundai parked on that block. A window of the car was broken and the steering column was torn off, the report states.

Hyundais have been targeted by car thieves due to a flaw that makes them easier to steal.

The family is not sure what happened before Herrera was killed. Police on Wednesday said they have no updates.

A cousin doubts Herrera confronted the car thieves. A shy person with poor vision, Herrera was likely driving slowly through the neighborhood and was merely trying to pass the suspects when they opened fire, Miguel Garcia said.

Eight 9 mm shell casings were found on the street, according to the police report. Five bullet holes were found in the hood and headlight of Herrera’s car.

A witness to the aftermath of the shooting told the Sun-Times she was surprised how quickly police responded.

"I thought it was fireworks," said the witness, who asked not to be named.

She saw police approach Herrera’s smoking car near the entrance of an alleyway within feet of the car that was being broken into. First responders pulled Herrera from the car and performed CPR on him, she said.

The normally quiet block is tucked between the campuses of Rush University Medical Center and the University of Illinois Chicago and is the home to many students.

On the morning he was killed, Herrera had clocked out at 1:45 a.m. from a bartending shift at the Butterfield Country Club in Oak Brook, where he worked all of his adult life, his family said.

Herrera got a job at the country club at age 14 to support his family after their father died in a work accident.

He first worked summers there doing cleanup and stuck with the country club for 28 years, eventually becoming a bartender, sister Remedios Herrera said.

"He took care of us. He stepped up and supported us when our father died. That was his choice," his sister said.

He even footed college bills for his sisters, they said.

He once traveled across the globe to take care of another sister, who had gotten sick while studying abroad in Spain. He brought his mother to Spain, too, and got her an apartment to be closer to her daughter.

"He supported my mom 100% — and me as well," Marcelina Herrera said.

Salvador Herrera was born in Chicago and grew up in a home on 17th Street, where his cousins lived down the block.

A loyal White Sox fan, Herrera got the whole family tickets to a game in May. It was their last outing together, Remedios Herrera said.

"He was a sports fan — a Chicago fan. He loved his city. And his city let him down," she said.

As Herrera grew older, he became conscious of his health and took up a vegan diet, his cousin, Garcia, said. He lost nearly 100 pounds, he said.

Herrera was always mature for his age, especially after his father died, said Raul Hernandez, Herrera’s friend since their time at Holy Trinity High School on Division Street.

Herrera was the first person in their friend group to get his driver’s license. He selflessly offered people rides for errands, Hernandez said.

Herrera also bought a home at an age when the rest of his friends were trying to buy a car, he said. Herrera took care of his mother in that home. He never married or had kids, his family said.

Marcelina Herrera said she spoke publicly about her brother to keep attention on the case.

"I need answers," she said. "He raised me, and I am who I am because of him."