CHICAGO — A garbage collector shot two armed robbers, killing one, outside a Chicago elementary school on Friday morning. Police said the victim, 28, is licensed to carry a concealed firearm.
He was collecting trash in an alleyway next to DRW College Prep, 931 South Homan, when two men walked up, displayed a gun, and announced the robbery around 5:18 a.m., according to police. An “exchange of gunfire” ensued between the robbers and the garbage collector, CPD said in a media statement.
While the victim was not injured, the two robbers were not so fortunate. One of them, a 42-year-old man, collapsed about 20 feet from the school’s front entrance. He was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head.
Police and court records show he has a lengthy criminal history, including a conviction for a 2008 armed robbery that occurred in the 1300 block of South Homan, four blocks directly south from where he died.
The other robber, 20, was taken to Mt. Sinai in critical condition with a gunshot wound to his neck.
EMS also took the garbage collector to St. Anthony Hospital for an evaluation, but he was in good condition, police said.
Investigators found two handguns and seven shell casings at the scene.