Billy Sergent, 67, was shot in the chest in the 6000-block of South Martin Luther King Drive at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. He died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital half an hour later.
Sergent was caught in gang crossfire, police said, and was standing next to the intended target when he was shot. A person of interest is in custody.
Sergent's friend, Lesly Flanagan, heard the shots from his house. The two had been friends for several years, both living in the Washington Park neighborhood.
"I came to the corner, and they said Billy got shot," Flanagan said. Flanagan said he and Sergent were in the same circle of friends, all older, retired men who would get together every day.
"Guys would come out early in the morning sit on the bus stop and drink coffee and just talk," Flanagan said. He said there's been an increase in shootings and gang activity in Washington Park over the years.
"[There are] no jobs in the black community. And then you have kids raising kids," Flanagan said.
