A man was shot and killed Friday afternoon inside a Family Dollar store in Austin.
Loyce Wright, 43, was inside the Family Dollar at 5410 W. Chicago Ave. about 1:40 p.m. when a person walked up to him and fired shots, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his body and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The shooting comes amid complaints of unsafe and poorly maintained conditions at many of the nearly 150 dollar stores across Chicago that recently prompted the City Council to restrict new stores.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred at one of our Family Dollar stores in Chicago today,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We are cooperating with local authorities as they investigate the crime. Out of respect for the family’s privacy, no further comment will be offered at this time.”
On Wednesday, alderpersons overwhelmingly passed an ordinance that prevents new and expanding “small-box retailers” from locating “within one mile of an existing store owned or managed by the same controlling person.”
Dollar Tree Inc., the company that owns Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, lobbied against the ordinance and said in a previous statement that it limits “the flexibility to improve stores and provide new offerings to people in these communities.”
