Samantha Malone
Early Tuesday morning, a shaken up Pace driver hid her face in her jacket as six Chicago police officers ushered her through the homicide crime scene in the back of her van.
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The woman, 41, was employed for Pace years earlier and was only driving for the company again two years when she began giving rides to disabled and elderly people on federal aid.
No on-the-job training could prepare her for this morning, however:
According to the Chicago Tribune, the woman’s Pace van was parked at a CITGO gas station in the Marynook neighborhood with a dead man inside.
As police removed the driver from the scene, they discovered the man inside, 50, appeared to be forced into the van by a robber who was attempting to steal his cell phone.
Investigators believe the attacker was standing in the 8300 block of South Stony Island Avenue, talking with the driver who remained in the vehicle.
Just after 3:15 a.m., a gunman approached and forced the man into the vehicle, according to the Tribune.
The gunman unleashed his bullets and shot the middle-aged man in the right arm, the chest and the back. The victim was taken to Northwestern Hospital in critical condition and was later pronounced dead, making him one of the three people killed and eight wounded in shootings across the city between Monday and Tuesday morning.
The victim remains unidentified at this time, but Pace spokeswoman Maggie Daly Skogsbakken told the Tribune the victim was not a passenger and their driver employee was not hurt – only disturbed by the heinous crime:
“We are deeply saddened by the shooting that occurred early this morning,” Skogsbakken wrote in a statement for Pace. “At this time, we are focusing our efforts on supporting those involved and assisting law enforcement’s investigation in any way we can.”
