Man killed, teenage girl wounded in Avalon Park shooting

A 54-year-old man was killed and a 17-year-old girl wounded in an Avalon Park neighborhood shooting Wednesday afternoon on the South Side.

About 2:15 p.m., David J. Plank was driving in the 8400 block of South Stony Island when he heard gunfire and realized he’d been hit in the upper torso, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Police said the bullet entered Plank’s vehicle through the passenger door.

Plank, of the 9000 block of South Parkside in Oak Lawn, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 3:11 p.m., authorities said. An autopsy Thursday ruled his death a homicide.

A 17-year-old girl who was walking in the area at that time suffered a graze wound to the right calf, police said. She was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she was treated and released.

Neither Plank nor the 17-year-old girl are thought to be the intended targets of the shooting, police said Thursday afternoon, adding that it was initially thought Plank was shot during a “possible road rage incident,” but that was not founded. It was not clear who was being targeted in the shooting.

The suspect may have been driving or shooting from a white, four-door car, police said. Area South detectives are conducting a homicide investigation.