Pregnant woman shot in Sauk Village loses baby

Evelyn Holmes Image
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Pregnant woman shot in Sauk Village
A mother of two who is believed to have been 8 weeks pregnant lost her baby after a gun-wielding man opened fire on her doorstep.

SAUK VILLAGE, Ill. (WLS) -- A mother of two who is believed to have been 8 weeks pregnant lost her baby after a gun-wielding man opened fire on her doorstep in south suburban Sauk Village.

"I feel sorry for this woman and her family and whoever did it, I hope they pay for it," said Tyrone Jackson, neighborhood resident.

The attack happened around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the home in the 22400-block of Strassburg Avenue that Sandra Fernandez and her family have shared for three years.

Sandra Fernandez's fianc, who did not wish to be identified, talked to ABC7 on the phone on Thursday. He said he believes the three men came to the wrong address and can't think of any reason why anyone would target his family.

"When I opened the door, I openly opened the door - not the storm door, which is a metal door - and the guy said, so, is like, 'Is George here?'" Fernandez's fianc said.

The owner said as he explained that the person they were looking for didn't live at the home, one of the men pulled out a gun and fired one shot. It went through the outside wall of the house, striking the woman in the lower stomach/hip area.

Fernandez remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition after undergoing a second surgery Thursday.

"It went into her and it went in and out. And I guess the bullet hit the table and then it ended up under the table," her fianc said.

Police continue to investigate and say Fernandez was not the intended target of the attack.

"We don't have any information if the owner of that home knows these individuals or not," Sauk Village Police Chief Robert Kowalski said.

And although the incident may be unusual and random, for some long-time residents like Shawanda Speed, the violence is too much. She says moving her family out of the neighborhood as soon as she can.

"There's very much an increase out here, you know, like me, I'm getting ready to move myself. I should be gone within the next month or two," Speed said.

Police are still looking for those three suspects. The couple's 9-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were unharmed. They hid in a closet during the incident.