First Shooting Since Blizzard Over Snowblower

By Anna Deem in News on Feb 5, 2011 7:30PM

As the snow begins to melt, it's back to business as usual in Chicago. Early this morning a man was shot and robbed of a snowblower in the Englewood neighborhood, marking the first shooting since the blizzard hit on Tuesday, police said via the Chicago Tribune. There had been no shootings in the city since 3 p.m. on Tuesday when the snow first hit, according to preliminary data.

The 47-year-old man was walking down a street near West 56th Street and South Shields Avenue around 1:40 a.m. with the snowblower when a white four-door sedan pulled up next to him, police said. One of the individuals inside the car asked the man how much he wanted for the snowblower. According to police and the victim's mother, the man told them the snowblower was not for sale. Two men proceeded to get out of the car and took his snowblower and $27 from the man's pockets.

One of the men asked the man if he wanted to "get popped" just before the man was shot in the thigh, police said. The two robbers--who appeared to be in their 20s--got back in their car and took off north. The man was listed in good condition at Stroger Hospital, where his mother told the Tribune he was undergoing surgery this afternoon. As of this morning, no one is in custody.