15-year-old charged with carjacking that led to fatal crime spree

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A silver Pontiac Grand Prix was taken in a carjacking in Chicago on Wednesday morning, police said. Investigators believe it was used in a fatal robbery in Summit as well. | Summit police photo

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with shooting a man during a carjacking Wednesday morning, an incident that is thought to be connected to another Chicago shooting, as well as a murder and two armed robberies later that day in southwest suburban Summit.

The boy shot a 27-year-old man in the leg during the carjacking in the 8900 block of South South Chicago Avenue at 7:24 a.m., according to a statement from Chicago Police. The victim was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with a broken femur.

The boy is charged as a juvenile with one felony count of aggravated vehicular hijacking, Chicago Police said.

The car thought to have been stolen in that incident, a Pontiac Grand Prix with Illinois license plate L925050, was later used in two armed robberies and a fatal shooting in Summit, according to police.

Police responded to a call of an armed robbery about 8:30 a.m. at a Shell station in the 5300 block of South Harlem, according to a statement from Summit police. A weapon was displayed in the robbery.

While police were on the scene, another robbery was reported at another Shell station at the intersection of 63rd and Harlem.

In that second robbery, a station employee was fatally shot just before 9 a.m., according to police. The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Ghassan K. Abuujeries, 34, of Oak Lawn. He was pronounced dead at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood at 9:38 a.m.

One suspect was described as a white or Hispanic male who wore a black hooded sweatshirt, red t-shirt and black baseball cap. The other was described as a black male in a black hooded sweatshirt.

Summit police did not immediately comment on whether the boy will be charged with the crimes there.

The same two suspects are believed to have shot another 27-year-old man four times in the chest in the 8400 block of South Mackinaw about 7:20 a.m., Escalante said. He was listed in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Responding officers helped save the man’s life with QuikClot Combat Gauze — a product treated with a chemical that speeds up the the body’s natural clotting ability.

“Obviously these individuals have no respect for human life,” Chicago Police First Deputy Supt. John Escalante said at a press conference Wednesday night. “They couldn’t care less about who they’re shooting. We really want the public’s help finding these individuals.”

About half an hour after the second shooting, the stolen vehicle is also believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run crash with another vehicle in the 5700 block of South Lake Shore Drive, Escalante said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Summit police at (708) 563-4832 or Area South detectives at (312) 747-8271.

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