Police scrambled to find two shooting victims in a Ford Excursion with firefighter license plates at about 4:00 a.m. Tuesday. Illinois State Police troopers, Forest View Police and Chicago police responded and found a vehicle with a driver critically injured and a passenger shot dead near Exit 285 from the outbound Stevenson Expressway to Central Avenue. A third passenger, who was not injured, was able to describe the offending vehicle — the number of offenders is unknown. The vehicle is described as a silver Chevy Trailblazer — possibly an SS.
A physical fight apparently started at a nightclub in the River North neighborhood of Chicago with the fight spilling over to a two-vehicle chase on the Stevenson. Police have not given out information about the nightclub as of noon Tuesday. The driver, according to a friend and neighbor is Steve Paliatsos, 41, who is in critical condition at Level I Trauma Center Mount Sinai Hospital. He was reported to have been shot three times — once in the face. The dead man has been identified as Alexander Lopez, 35, of Oak Lawn.
Investigators are checking surveillance video near Spy Bar, 646 N. Franklin St. and near the Ontario feeder ramp.
Anyone with information about the vehicle, the shooting, or the altercation should call the Illinois State Police at 847-294-4400.
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View Chicagoland and Worldwide Crime Notebook Map in a larger map