A heavy police response, including dozens of SWAT from the South Suburban Emergency Response Team, blanketed a Chicago Heights neighborhood for several hours on Sunday morning after a man barricaded himself inside a house following a shooting that family members said left two men dead.
[Ads /]
It was after 10:30 a.m. when ABC7's cameras captured a man being led away in handcuffs. ABC7 blurred his face because he isn't charged.
The victims were identified by family as 30-year-old David Parra and 32-year-old Antonio Muñoz. Relatives said they had just gotten home following an all-night family gathering in Lynwood when some people in their neighborhood appeared to pick a fight for no particular reason.
"They were just drunk. They just came out of nowhere," said Perla Chavez, Antonio's cousin. "They started jumping David, two or three guys, and then everybody come, like, with 15 guys. And then, my cousin, Antonio, come and help."
David's wife, Crystal Chavez, said their three young children were still in the car as the violence unfolded.
"Today was our wedding anniversary," Crystal said. "He grabbed his firearm. But, he was shooting at the floor, not at them, so they would go away. So then, the people, they went back to the house. They came back out, and they had firearms, and they started shooting."
[Ads /]
Antonio, she said, was killed instantly, while her husband died at Franciscan Hospital in Olympia Fields.
"He was a good person. He didn't deserve it. Neither did my cousin. They were both so good," Crystal said.
Relatives tell us Antonio had just moved to Chicago from Mexico a few months ago, leaving behind three children of his own. They are now seeking to repatriate his remains.
Police confirmed that two people were killed in an apparent shooting in the area, but did not provide further details.