Mother and son shot dead in East Chatham while running errands, family says. ‘They died in a tragic way.’

Gloria Binder, 67, and her son Erskine Binder were killed and Gloria Binder’s husband was seriously wounded.

SHARE Mother and son shot dead in East Chatham while running errands, family says. ‘They died in a tragic way.’
Gloria Binder (left) and her son Erskine Binder were killed Tuesday on 79th Street.

Gloria Binder (left) and her son Erskine Binder were killed Tuesday on 79th Street.

Provided by family

Every first day of the month, Gloria Binder set out from her South Shore home early in the day to run errands and pay bills.

That’s what she was doing early Tuesday, her husband and son with her to buy groceries. They stopped across the street from the Food Town Supermarket and her son, Erskine Binder, walked into the building in the 900 block of East 79th Street.

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Someone opened fire, killing Erskine Binder and then shooting into the car, killing Gloria Binder, 67, and seriously wounding her husband.

“I’m thinking it was a robbery gone bad, like they were set up,” Gloria Binder’s daughter Jeanette said Wednesday. “My mother was a wonderful person. She would help everybody.”

The shooting happened just after 6 a.m. on the border of the East Chatham and Grand Crossing neighborhoods.

Police were investigating the scene of a double homicide Tuesday morning in the 900 block of East 79th Street.

Police were investigating the scene of a double homicide Tuesday morning in the 900 block of East 79th Street.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A SWAT team was deployed shortly after the shooting to search for a gunman who may have run into the apartment building. After six hours, the SWAT team left and police reported no arrests.

Two weeks earlier, a shooting on the same block left two people wounded, a 16-year-old boy and a 46-year-old woman, according to police.

A resident of the apartment building where the shooting happened blamed poor maintenance and minimal security. She said the front door remains unlocked and there are no security cameras.

“They died in a tragic way,” Gloria Binder’s grandson Keith Binder said.

Erskine Binder loved to ride his bicycle, anything to save on gas, Keith Binder said. “We called him ‘Gas Line’ ... He was a good person, too,” he said.

He will remember his grandmother’s cooking the most.

“Her dressing was the best,” he said. “She was a very loving person. We called her Mama Jeanne. She took care of everyone. Mama Jeanne made you feel like family.”

Gloria Binder was “opened-hearted, open-armed,” but was still tough and wasn’t pushed around, he said. “She was the heart of the family.”

Jeanette Binder remembered a moment of her mother’s generosity when she offered to take in a nursing home patient who was being discharged but had no place to stay.

“My mother helped him get on his feet and get an apartment. She opened her door for anybody,” she said.

Police were investigating the scene of a double homicide Tuesday morning in the 900 block of East 79th Street.

A SWAT team on the scene of a double homicide Tuesday morning in the 900 block of East 79th Street.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Gloria Binder was born in Clarkson, Mississippi and moved to Chicago when she was a young child, her daughter said. She graduated from Simeon High School and had worked as a caretaker and at Jays Foods potato chip factory in Pullman.

For the last five years, Gloria Binder lived in South Shore with her son Erskine.

“Erskine was a babysitter, he’d cook and clean. Anything, you name it,” Jeanette Binder said.

He once traveled to Wisconsin to look after her son’s dogs. “He was an all-around good guy, a handyman. He’d shovel snow to make money and just do anything he can to help a person.”

Jeanette Binder said she can’t believe the tragedy that hit her family this week. She said they had made dozens of similar trips with no problems.

“They got their checks on the first, they went and paid their bills, got their food and then went home. That’s all they did.”

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