2 Venezuelan Migrants Shot Outside Of Grand Crossing Police Station

CHICAGO — A Venezuelan migrant was shot Saturday afternoon while holding her child in front of a South Side police station. A 24-year-old man was also wounded. A suspect is in custody.

Yerlianny Romero, 28, had only been in the United States for a week and was living temporarily at the Grand Crossing police station in the 7100 block of South Cottage Grove. Romero and other people were standing on the sidewalk outside the 3rd District police station when a Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled up. The driver inside the vehicle started shooting, Chicago Police said.

According to information provided by CPD, Romero suffered a graze wound to her buttocks. The 24-year-old man was shot in the thigh. Both were taken to University of Chicago Hospital and were initially reported in good condition. Romero and the 24-year-old man have since been relocated.

Another Venezuelan migrant temporarily living at the Grand Crossing police station, Karolina Briceño, told the Sun-Times that when the shooting started someone shouted for everybody to get down on the ground. The migrants are camped out in tents outside the police station.

“And we all got down,” Briceño said. “But by then, the two people had already been shot. When the shots stopped, we all ran inside the station. The only ones left outside were the two who were wounded.”

The driver, later identified by police as Anthony Evans, 25, fled the scene and struck a Chicago police vehicle injuring four officers in the 5400 block of South State. Evans was taken into custody at the scene. The officers had to be extricated from the wreckage. A Glock converted into a machine gun was also found in the Jeep.

Evans faces multiple felony charges of aggravated DUI, aggravated battery connected to the shooting, aggravated fleeing, and being a felon in possession of a weapon, along with misdemeanors for DUI and traffic violations. Evans is currently hospitalized recovering from his injuries.