Animals Rob Car Repair Shop In Alsip At Gun Point

According to the SouthTown

Two men shot at an Alsip auto body shop Tuesday has died, police said Wednesday morning.

Mohamed Salhia, 76, of Orland Park, was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to a news release from the Alsip Police Department. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

The second shooting victim, a 43-year-old man, remained at Advocate Christ, where his condition was stabilized, according to police.

The man who allegedly shot the two employees was taken into police custody after a brief pursuit Tuesday, police said.

Upon responding to reports of gunfire at Ray's Towing and Recovery, 4340 W. 127th St., just after 1 p.m., officers found a person who had been battered by the gunman and two people shot inside the business, according to an earlier news release from police.

The battered person told officers that a man had shot the two others and fled in a vehicle, police said. All three were believed to be employees of Ray's, Alsip Police Chief Jay Miller said.

After securing the scene, police broadcast a description of the suspect and his vehicle to surrounding towns, the statement said. The two shot were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center.

A short time later, Oak Lawn officers spotted the suspect's vehicle at 107th Street and Pulaski Road and attempted to stop it, police said. When the man did not stop for the officers, a pursuit ensued. The suspect exited his vehicle at 95th Street and Central Park Avenue and was apprehended following a brief foot chase, police said.

At this point, police do not believe any other suspects were involved, although an investigation is ongoing, Miller said.

The auto body shop's head dispatcher, Elizabeth Easter, said she rushed to the scene after an employee at the shop called her around 1:45 p.m. to tell her Ray's had been robbed at gunpoint and two people had been shot.

She said the employee, a light service driver, told her a man had pulled a gun on him and then struck him with the weapon, knocking him unconscious. When he came to, he found the other two people shot and the robber gone, she said he told her.

Easter said she'd worked at Ray's for the past six years and that her employers were "awesome people to work for."

Police are still investigating what, if any, relationship the suspect may have had to those injured.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Alsip Police Department at 708-385-6902, ext. 246.