Police: Gunfight occurred outside funeral home while wake going on
By Brian Stanley bstanley@stmedianetwork.com January 30, 2013 4:46PM
Updated: March 2, 2013 11:45AM
JOLIET — Police say a gunfight took place Monday outside the funeral home where a wake was being held for a gang-related shooting victim.
At 4:25 p.m., an officer was on patrol at Second Avenue and Richards Street when he heard shots nearby, Cmdr. Al Roechner said.
“The officer went to the 100 block of Union Street where he saw a Hispanic man shooting in the parking lot of the Minor-Morris Funeral Home,” Roechner said.
“The shooter threw the gun to the ground and fled the scene as the officer came down the street.”
The suspect got away, but police found a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and shell casings in the parking lot.
A car and a nearby house were struck by gunfire, but no injuries were reported.
“Forty-caliber shell casings were found in another driveway as we searched the area,” Roechner said.
Visitation had just ended at the funeral home for Christopher Perry, 24, who was slain Jan. 22 in a shooting in the 200 block of Hunter Avenue.
At 6:17 p.m. that day, Perry and Joshua Hoehn, 23, were walking out to a car when a red sports utility vehicle and the passenger opened fire.
Hoehn was hit in his shoulder and leg but survived while Perry was shot in the back and died at Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center.
Police say both victims have “gang connections” and no suspects have been identified.
