Man awaiting Pace ride fatally shot during robbery in Avalon Park

A man waiting for a ride on a Pace paratransit van was shot to death during an attempted robbery early Tuesday in the South Side Avalon Park neighborhood.

At 3:17 a.m., the 50-year-old was standing in the lot of a gas station in the 8300 block of South Stony Island, talking to the driver of the Pace minivan, when another male walked up, forced the victim into the van at gunpoint, and tried to take the victim’s cell phone, according to Chicago Police.

The suspect then fired shots, striking the man in the right arm, chest and back. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name was not released Tuesday morning pending notification of his family.

Pace said there were no other passengers on board at the time of the shooting.

“We are deeply saddened by the shooting that occurred early this morning,” an emailed statement from Pace spokeswoman Maggie Daly Skogsbakken said.

“At this time, we are focusing our efforts on supporting those involved and assisting law enforcement’s investigation in any way we can. We are able to report that no passengers were on board at the time of the incident, and our contractor employee was not harmed,” Skogsbakken said.

Area South detectives were conducting a homicide investigation.