Two shot dead within six hours on Eisenhower Expressway

FOX 32 / SUN-TIMES - A man was shot and killed on the Eisenhower late Thursday morning, the second fatal shooting in just over six hours on the West Side expressway.

Troopers responded to shots fired about 11:50 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of I-290 at Central Avenue, according to Illinois State Police.

A passenger in a vehicle, 23-year-old Devon Almon, was shot and the driver took him to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, authorities said.

Almon, whose home address was not immediately known, was pronounced dead at 12:20 p.m., authorities said. The female driver was not wounded.

The ramp from I-290 eastbound to Central Avenue was closed for more than two hours after the shooting, but has since reopened.

Family and friends of Almon left the hospital in tears after learning of his death.

Almon had just left the courthouse in Maywood on a charge of fleeing from police when he was shot.

“He's just a loving kid, my family helped raise him, that's how I see him, anything else surrounding that, I don't know,” said Almon’s friend Trevera.

Police believe the shooting was gang-related.

About 5:30 a.m., two people were shot on the outbound Eisenhower near Laramie Avenue.

Johnathan Ortiz, 22, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 6:18 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 3100 block of West Monroe.

Ortiz's girlfriend was listed in critical condition at Stroger, police said. Her age was not released.

Ortiz was an up-and-coming rapper who used the stage name John Doe. He was out driving with his girlfriend around when someone fired shots at his Jeep.

“He meant a lot to a lot of people and he wasn't a bad person in anybody's eyes,” said Ortiz’s friend Tori Harvery.

Ortiz had recently performed at the House of Blues and the Portage Theater.

His shooting forced the shutdown of the Eisenhower west bound lanes for several hours while police gathered evidence. A motive for this incident remains unclear.

“I'm not sure what he could have been doing, but it couldn't have been bad because she's not no gang banger, he's not no gang banger, they're not tied up riding around trying to find somebody,” Harvey said.

There have been 41 shootings on Chicago-area expressways so far in 2016, police said. Last year, there were 39 total shootings on Chicago expressways.

Anyone who witnessed either of the shootings is asked to call Illinois State Police at (847) 294-4400. Callers can remain anonymous.