Oak Park shooting: 4 Chicago men shot during west suburban funeral procession, police say

OAK PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- Police said four Chicago men were shot on Saturday afternoon in the middle of a west suburban funeral procession as family and friends were mourning the life of another person lost.

The shooting happened in Oak Park in the 900 block of Madison Street.

"There are funeral processions that go up and down Madison a lot, but you don't think that it's going to lead to this," said Lisa Peloquin, who lives nearby.

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Members of the procession are believed to have been targeted in the shooting, police said.

Police said the procession was traveling westbound on Madison from Chicago to a cemetery in Des Plaines when passengers in a white pickup truck pulled alongside one of the vehicles in the procession and began firing, striking two passengers. Both victims were transported to Loyola Medical Center, where one is in critical condition and the other is in critical, but stable condition.

Two passengers in a second vehicle in the procession were also shot. Both victims self-transported to Rush Oak Park Hospital, and were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Multiple shell casings were recovered at the scene, but no bystanders were injured.

The aftermath was a sea of evidence markers surrounding an SUV with its driver side passenger window shattered, along with Oak Park neighbors' sense of safety.

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"It's so terrifying to think that people were shooting this close to my home, this close to my family, this close to our schools," Peloquin said. "As long as it's very easy for people who are upset and have some sort of issue to get a gun, then people are going to try to solve issues in this way, and that's awful. None of us want to live in a world like that."

Those who witnessed the aftermath said the scene was chaotic, and described seeing a couple of victims being taken away for medical assistance.

One father said he and his son were inside a music school on the block where the shooting happened.

"We were talking to the person at my kid's music lesson, and all of a sudden, we heard what sounded like a snare drum. It was like a rhythmic sound and [the instructor] was like, 'we don't have any drum lessons scheduled for today.'" said Jaime Rava. "It's something I am still taking in. It's devastating whenever something violent happens, whether it happens near you or not."

Madison Street is closed in both directions near the shooting.

Police asked anyone with information to contact them at 708-386-3800. People can also provide information anonymously by calling 708-434-1636 or online at www.oak-park.us/crimetip.

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