Aurora Police Investigate 3 Christmas Shootings

AURORA, IL — Police are investigating three separate shootings Christmas night. They happened within a matter of hours, and all involved the same description of a suspect vehicle. A 29-year-old Aurora woman told police she was getting ready to turn into her driveway in the 500 block of Gates Street when a shot was fired around 9 p.m. She describes the shooter as an occupant of a white GMC Terrain with dark, tinted windows. The bullet ricocheted off one of her car doors, but did not penetrate it.

Her three daughters — ages 8, 10 and 12 — were in her vehicle, too. Her 12-year-old was seen by paramedics and checked out at an Aurora hospital for ear pain, but there were no other injuries.

About an hour later, police said, another shot was fired through the front door of the same woman's home. The save white vehicle was described to police. At the time, the five men were in the house, whose ages range from 20 to 31. None were hurt, but the house did sustain an estimated $600 in damage. Police said there was no definite motive in either shooting.

Later, around 11:20 p.m., a 37-year-old woman told police she came under fire, also describing the same vehicle, as if followed them through several Near South East Side streets. She recognized one of the occupants of the Terrain as a relative with whom she had a recent disagreement. None of the bullets hit their targets. The woman's car was also carrying a 24-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man.

Five minutes later, an officer spotted the suspect's white SUV near Galena Boulevard and Root Street. When the officer tried to pull it over, the driver took off and led the officer on a chase. The pursuit ended when the vehicle skidded into a fence in a parking lot in the 400 block of N. Farnsworth Avenue. Five male suspects fled from the vehicle but were all caught after short foot chases. Three of them were 17 years old, with a 19 and 20-year-old. There were no injuries from the crash. Police said is still not clear who was driving the Terrain at the time.

Officers were searching for contraband that could have been tossed from the white SUV during the chase, and eventually located a firearm in the a minivan that was parked in the 1100 block of Fourth Street. It had a broken rear windshield, and its owner didn't know anything about it until he was notified by police. He did not own the handgun, according to the report.

Police said that so far, the investigation has not yielded enough evidence to secure charges against the five subjects, and they were all released. The investigation, however, is continuing, and includes forensics processing. Anyone with information is asked to call Aurora Police Department detectives at 630-256-5500.

Photo: Caitlin Ketel