Humboldt Park Murders: Media Got It Wrong

Sun-Times News Group got most of it wrong. Shots rang out just past midnight on Tuesday morning, May 6 at 3349 W. Potomac Avenue. Murder it was, gangland style. Chicago police officers responded rapidly and did fine work in keeping order at the scene and gathering evidence. Unfortunately, the Sun-Times News Group (STNG) missed a number of elements and got others wrong, and the Chicago Police Department’s News Affairs did not give accurate information (surprise!). I heard the entire drama in real time on my police scanner. Let’s compare the facts with the fiction of the STNG report, as posted on CBS2’s web site. The STNG report: “Two men were slain early Tuesday outside one of their homes.” What Really Happened: Two men were shot, but not “slain.” Keep reading. The STNG report: “Henry Garcia, 25, of 1319 N. Homan Ave., and Luis Ortiz, 29, of 3349 W. Potomac Ave., suffered fatal gunshot wounds at 3349 W. Potomac Ave.” then goes on to say that “Both men were dead on the scene after being shot…” The CBS2/STNG post attributes this to CPD News Affairs Officer John Henry. What Really Happened: Neither man was “slain” (killed) at the scene. Neither died at the scene, as CBS2/STNG/CPD reported. It is not true that “both men were dead on the scene.” In fact, both victims were taken to hospitals, still alive. One went to Stroger Hospital, the other to Mt. Sinai. The STNG report: The report said that the victims were shot while they sat in a vehicle about 12:11 a.m. in the 3300 block of West Potomac Avenue. What Really Happened: CBS2/STNG failed to tell us about the 4-5 male blacks who allegedly fired the shots from semi-automatic 9mm pistols, then fled westbound in a “dark vehicle.” The chase was confused for a few minutes while police sorted out reports from witnesses at the scene. Was the escape vehicle a Cadillac? A Charger? A black Chevy Blazer? At 12:20 a.m., CPD realized there were two escape vehicles: A large brown van, perhaps, and a black Blazer, which sped westward then north on Homan Avenue? The STNG report: The report said that one victim received “multiple gunshot wounds” and the other “was shot in the leg,” again attributed to CPD News Affairs Officer John Henry. The CBS2/STNG report went on to say that one victim “was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital at 12:44 a.m. Tuesday,” and the other “was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital of Cook County at 1:58 a.m.” They attribute that to a medical examiner's office spokesman. What Really Happened: At approximately 12: 30 a.m., Chicago Fire Department truck 53 radioed that he was following both ambulances to Stroger and to Mt. Sinai hospitals. At approximately 12: 45 a.m., a request for an Evidence Technician was made for 3349 W. Potomac. The requesting officer, on scene, reported that there were two victims, one “serious, not looking good.” In other words, still alive. The requesting officer said that one victim had four shots “to the chest” and the other victim was “shot in the side, I’m not sure where.” He reported that there were “Eight to ten shell cases” in “the [victims’] vehicle and on the street,” and said that one victim was taken to Mt. Sinai and the other to Stroger. Again - this is in sharp contrast to the STNG/CBS2 report that both victims were “dead on the scene.” At 1:24 a.m., a police officer radioed his dispatcher, “That guy at Mt. Sinai is a zero-one-one-zero,” he said. In other words, “dead.” Contrast that to the STNG report that he “was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital at 12:44 a.m. Tuesday.” In any case, at least one of the victims was not dead at the scene. The STNG report: The two victims were sitting in a parked car when they were attacked by “an unknown gunman.” Again, this is attributed to CPD News Affairs. What Really Happened: There was one gunman, true. That, witnesses told police that only one guy was pulling the trigger. But what STNG/CBS2 leaves out is important. There were two attacking vehicles. There were several gangsters in each. The one who did the shooting was described by witnesses as a black male wearing a red hat “with lettering” and baggy pants “with blue underwear hanging out.” The CBS2/STNG report makes it sound as though a single man attacked the victims. In fact, there were probably five or six attackers in two vehicles. Perhaps CBS2 can hire some of its own reporters and not rely on the unreliable Sun-Times News Group. Perhaps the Sun-Times News Group can hire some of its own reporters and not rely on sanitized, pre-chewed mush from the CPD’s News Affairs.