Masked gunman randomly targeting victims in Chicago, 2 dead in 2 days
CHICAGO, Illinois -- Chicago police said a masked gunman appears to be targeting people at random in the city's Rogers Park neighborhood following the second fatal shooting in two days.
Eliyahu Moscowitz, 24, was shot in the head at about 10:20 p.m. Monday on the Loyola Park path near Lunt Avenue, Chicago police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner said he died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Police are investigating the shooting as connected to the death of 73-year-old Douglass Watts, who was fatally shot in the head Sunday morning while walking his dogs in the 1400 block of West Sherwin Avenue.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the shell casings in both shootings were found to be a match and that police are looking for the same suspect and the same gun in both shootings.
Police released a surveillance picture showing the shooter dressed entirely in black, his face covered by a ski mask. His victims appear to have been chosen at random, as no connection has been found between the two men.
In both shootings, none of the victims' belongings were taken.
"People will go about their daily lives, but we want it to be done in a safe way," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. "A smart and vigilant way."
Moscowitz was shot only blocks away from where Watts was killed. Police are making a strong showing in the neighborhood, and CPD's summer mobile saturation team join Area North tactical units to support patrols. Police said the robust response was prompted by the frequency and geography of the shootings and the behavior of the shooter.
The FBI and ATF also joined the investigation Tuesday night.
Pastor John Elleson, of Lakewood Chapel, found Moscowitz's body shortly after he was shot.
"He is laying there with the rain coming down, and if it was my son or my relative, I would just want someone to stand with them during this time," he said. "So it's sad. I just find my heart breaking with the gentleman is all."
Moscowitz's father said his son was dressed in traditional Jewish attire, with a long beard.
Moscowitz, who was a member of the Orthodox Jewish community, was also part of the Pokémon Go community in the Rogers Park neighborhood, his friends said.
Known as Ellee to his Pokemon Go friends, Moscowitz was part of a close group that bonded over the game.
"He finds a way to, like, seamlessly fit into a group," friend Adam Thornburg said. "And find a way, I don't know, to live, bring people up."
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