Retired Firefighter, 65, Shot Dead During Carjacking Attempt In Morgan Park – CBS

CHICAGO (CBS) — A retired Chicago Fire lieutenant was shot and killed Thursday afternoon during a carjacking attempt in Morgan Park.

As CBS 2’s Jermont Terry reported, police early Thursday night were looking for clues in the murder of retired fire Lt. Dwain Williams, and also for the four men involved in the terrible crime.

Around 2 p.m., Williams, 65, was leaving the Let’s Get Poppin popcorn store at 11758 S. Western Ave. and was walking to his vehicle, when a four-door dark-colored sedan pulled up and four men got out and bum rushed him, according to Chicago Police Chief of Operations Brian McDermott.

The men tried to take the Williams’ vehicle — a maroon Jeep Cherokee with festive reindeer antlers attached to it — and one of the assailants took out a gun and fired at least one shot, striking the victim in the abdomen, police said.

Williams had his own gun and fired at the assailants, but his wound proved fatal. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 2:45 p.m., McDermott said.

The Fire Department said Williams retired two years ago after 26 years of service.

Williams’ last assignment was at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

Lt. Dwain Williams (Credit: Chicago Fire Department)

Lt. Williams was described as a caring man who spent much of his time on the Chicago Fire Department at the Engine 122 firehouse at 79th Street and Michigan Avenue.

His murder left not only his family devastated, but his fellow firefighters too.

Holding back tears, friend and fellow retired firefighter William Marshall struggled to come to terms with the fact that Williams, his longtime friend, was gone.

“I’ve known Dwain since we were kids,” Marshall said. “We grew up together.”

And they worked together at the same firehouse for years as Chicago firefighters. The two expected to enjoy years of retirement.

“Many people that know him from the department would tell you that he had a very kind spirit,” Marshall said.

Marshall said the Williams would have given up the vehicle.

“We spoke on a subject like that before,” he said. “He would have gave it to them.”

“He has saved lives out here in the work he has done. Now why would you take his life?” said friend and community activist Andrew Holmes.

Upon learning of the shooting in Morgan Park, Marshall rushed to Williams’ house.

“I came over here to speak to his wife, who I know very well, about it. She didn’t know. She did not know. She tried to call him at that moment,” Marshall said. “That’s when the reporting officers came up, and it was then that reality set in.”

A loving husband of 30 years and a father two four has been taken away. Is years of service were honored through a processional from Advocate Christ Medical Center – with full escort – the awaiting brothers and sisters from Chicago’s Bravest at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

It was not clear if any of the Williams’ bullets hit the assailants, but they took off west on 118th Street in the sedan, McDermott said.

Lt. Williams, despite being retired, served his city proudly and ultimately died on its streets.

Police have not released any description of the carjackers. It was not known if they fled on foot or in a car.

Area Two detectives were on the scene canvassing Thursday night. Police are reviewing several surveillance cameras in the area.

“If indeed you get a call that they’re looking for your son, your nephew, help them. Give the detectives the information where they’re at – because it was wrong,” Holmes said. “It was wrong.”

Williams’ family stressed they know that someone knows something, and they are urging whoever that is to give his widow some kind of closure and rest.

A Carjacking Crisis In Chicago
Carjackings have been plaguing the entire city in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, a 19-year-old man was charged with carjacking a driver in the parking lot of a Jewel-Osco store in Wicker Park last week, just five days after he was released on previous misdemeanor charges. Chicago Police said Quitone Nash, of Markham, was arrested early Friday morning, after officers spotted him at a gas station in Englewood, driving the same vehicle that had been stolen in the carjacking in Wicker Park just hours earlier in the parking lot of a Jewel-Osco store at the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Paulina Street.

That incident was not believed to be related to other recent carjackings in Lakeview and Bucktown, or another carjacking one day later a couple blocks away in Wicker Park.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday, a 38-year-old man was stopped at a red light in his black 2019 Audi A5 sedan at the six-way intersection of Damen, Milwaukee, and North avenues, when two men stopped in front of him, got out of their vehicle, and demanded his car at gunpoint. He got out and let them have the car, police said.

The suspects fled northwest on Milwaukee Avenue in the victims’ car, followed…