2 men on the run after fatal Summit shooting, crime spree

SUMMIT, Ill. (WLS) -- Two men accused of going on a crime spree that ended in the shooting death of a gas station clerk in suburban Summit are on the run.

Wednesday's crime spree started with a shooting and carjacking on 89th and South Chicago. There was also a shooting on 84th and Mackinaw and a hit-and-run crash on 57th and Lake Shore Drive. The crime spree ended in Summit with two robberies at two gas stations, one of them ending with gas station clerk, Ghassan Abu Jreis of Oak Lawn, being shot and killed.

As the manhunt continues, a Chicago area man is coming forward claiming he was a victim of the armed robbers as well.

"It was a state of shock," Michael Airhart said. "I looked again and I rewinded the TV and I said, 'Wait a minute, no, that's them.'"

Airhart says he knew it immediately that the armed robbers responsible for Wednesday's crimes were the same gunmen he believed attacked him months ago.

It happened the morning of February 16 at a Shell gas station at 87th and the Dan Ryan Expressway after Airhart decided to stop to fill-up.

Airhart, who runs a kid's community outreach center, says after seeing the surveillance pictures released by Chicago police and comparing them to his daylight robbery captured by security cameras, there was no doubt in his mind that it's the same men.

"I talked to him. He talked back to me. I calmed him down. But I couldn't calm that guy down. He wanted to kill," Airhart said.

Summit police are still looking for the gunman and his accomplice responsible for the killing of Jreis.

Both suspects may still be driving a stolen silver Pontiac Grand Prix with the license plate number L925050, which was carjacked on Chicago's South Side. The 27-year-old driver of the car was shot and wounded by the suspects.

Detectives say after shooting a man on a bike a few blocks away, the men ended up in the southwest suburb where they robbed a gas station at 53rd and Harlem first before hitting the gas station where Jreis worked.

Both suspects are considered armed and dangerous. Authorities are asking anyone with any information about their whereabouts or the whereabouts of the car to call Summit police at 908-273-0051.