Hal Baskin Junior, 25, was wounded in the hip. He is hospitalized in stable condition, but is expected to recover, his family said. Another man, Baskin's friend, was grazed in the head. No one is in custody in the shooting.
Hal Baskin Junior was shot Monday while visiting a friend in the Englewood neighborhood near 66th and Peoria. The shooting occurred just down the street from Peace Community Center, which his father runs.
Darryl Smith and Keith Harris, both members of the Englewood Political Task Force, are acting as spokespersons for the Baskin family. They say the shooting was not gang-related.
"Hal wants everyone to remain calm, no retaliation. If you can retaliate that means you know who did it. So let's end this senseless code of silence thing and let the authorities do their job," Darryl Smith, Englewood Political Task Force, said.
"No reason, no reason from my understanding. There was no reason for it. Hal hasn't been in altercations with anybody in the community. I mean this is our neighborhood. He walks freely through here," Harris said.
Smith said the shooting has nothing to do with Baskin Junior's involvement at the anti-gang community center.
"It's a safe haven. I would say it is covered by community love. It's covered by God's love nothing happens at that center," Smith said.
The Baskin family has been victims of violence before. Four relatives, including Hal Baskin Senior's great nephew, Ronald Baskin, have been killed in violence. Ronald Baskin was killed on Mother's Day 2013. Police have not caught his killer.
