After five men were shot near an Uptown strip mall, a security guard says he kicked a group of young men off the property at least five times today.
"They decided to hang out on the fences right here. I told them, 'No hanging on the fence cause you are targets.' The kid said, 'We got guns, we're not worried about it,'" said Royal Smith, security guard.
But a short time later, there was gunfire next to the strip mall.
"I heard about 20 gunshots," said Jacqueline Cajamarca, Cricket employee.
"All you heard was a shooting and bullets flying everywhere. These guys just laying out everywhere," said Smith.
Witnesses say 3 males, including those the security guard warned, were shot, along with a man waiting for a bus and a woman.
Employees at a phone store say some of the male victims were involved in a shooting here two weeks ago, and warned them to stay away.
"People who hang out around our store, like they are always hanging out in front, I said 'You guys need to get out.' I got threatened by them actually. They were threatening to beat me up and all kinds of stuff," said Jazlyn Pereira, Cricket employee.
An EMS Plan 1 was called about 7:15 p.m. in the 4800 block of North Sheridan Road, according to Fire Media Affairs.
Four people were critically wounded and one person was in serious condition, Fire Media Affairs said.
Two males were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and two males were taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien said.
The EMS Plan 1, which sends five ambulances to the scene, was secured about 7:45 p.m.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
