Boy, 17, fatally shot in Hyde Park, blocks from Obama's house

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Police are now searching for the person who opened fire on two teenagers, killing one of them around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night on Chicago's South Side.

The teens were shot in the 600 block of East 50th Place in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Eyewitness News spoke to a neighborhood resident came to the boy's side before he died.

"He was right there," said Vincent Johnson, resident.

For Johnson, the crime remains vivid in his mind. The 40-year-old resident was inside his home watching and listening to the thunderstorm.

"We heard three loud cracks, which we thought was a tree branch that was broken. We heard yelling, so we were looking out to make sure it didn't fall on my car," said Johnson.

What Johnson heard wasn't a tree cracking, but gunshots. He walked outside and saw a body lying in the flooded street. Michael Patton, 17, had been shot in the chest. Johnson's wife called 911 while he went to help Patton.

"We were waiting for ambulance and police to show up, I was grabbing his hand telling him to hang in there, an ambulance was coming," said Johnson.

Patton didn't make it and died on the scene. Johnson says what he believes to be Patton's 15-year-old brother was shot in the arm. Police say the boys were talking to people in a van when someone inside the vehicle opened fire.

"This is a very quiet neighborhood, staying here for a little over 8 years, I've never seen anything like this before," said Terry Blackstone, resident.

Residents say shootings don't happen in this quiet, tree-lined block - one that is four blocks from President Obama's house. The block is well-lit and homes are being rehabbed.

Five hours before the 17-year-old was killed here, a shooting hurt three other boys in a different South Side neighborhood. On Tuesday, Chicago Police Dept. Supt. Garry McCarthy went public with the latest crime stats.

McCarthy says shootings are up compared to this time last year, but murders are down. Residents on this block hope Tuesday night's incident is the last time they see crime tape on their street.