Deadly Shooting On Jefferson Street Not Connected to Raynor Avenue Incident

JOLIET, IL - Deputy Police Chief Edgar Gregory said Thursday that this week's Joliet homicide that claimed the life of a 25-year-old Chicago man has absolutely no connection to the gunfire incident on Raynor Avenue that happened six hours earlier. The deadly shooting took place shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday on West Jefferson Street in the vicinity of the McDonald's restaurant. The homicide claimed the life of Anton J. Mable, 25, of Chicago.

The Will County Coroner's Office indicated that Mable suffered multiple gunshot wounds while sitting inside a parked vehicle in the 1500 block of West Jefferson Street. Mable was shot at 12:52 a.m. and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 1:17 a.m.

Joliet police continue to investigate the slaying and, so far, no arrests have been made.

Shootings are keeping city detectives busy this week.

Tuesday's gunfire on Raynor Avenue occurred during daylight hours. Around 6:45 p.m., a 38-year-old man was driving a silver Honda Accord southbound on Raynor near John Street when he noticed his passenger's side windshield was struck by a possible projectile.

"Our victim stated that he heard several pops that sounded like fireworks, that's when he noticed his windshield had broken," Gregory said.

Eyewitnesses told police the gunfire came from the intersection of Jefferson Street and Raynor Avenue. According to police, the shooter may have been driving a small black car, northbound on Raynor, when he leaned out his window and fired three or four gunshots at the silver Honda Accord.

Gregory described the shooter as being a black man. He had a shaved head, muscular build and wore a white T-shirt.

"No one in the area was struck," Gregory said. "There's no motive for the shooting. Our victim stated that he does not have a clue as to who could have done this. He didn't see anybody at all doing the shooting."

Then, about six hours later, came the overnight shooting that killed the 25-year-old Chicago man. Joliet Police have said that Mable and another person were sitting inside their 2013 Chrysler 200 shortly before 1 a.m. That's when somebody fired several gunshot rounds at their vehicle, striking Mable in the head. The killer immediately fled, heading northbound on Woodlawn Avenue, which is near St. Paul's Catholic church.

A number of people have speculated on social media that given the time frame and proximity to both shootings, the crimes could be connected. But that is not the case, Gregory stressed.

"They are not related at all," he said. "We believe the two are not related."