Man dismembered, fatally shot in burning home: Sources; CPD investigating arson, homicide
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CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago police are investigating a West Side house fire that broke out on Friday evening as a homicide and possible arson.
Officers and the Chicago Fire Department arrived at the Lawndale home on South Kirkland Avenue between Cermak Road and Ogden Avenue just before 9 p.m.
Firefighters extinguished the flames and found a 68-year-old man inside the home, police said. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
The man’s cause of death was from gunshot wounds to the neck and chest, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said. The victim’s identity was not yet known.
Sources familiar with the investigation said both of the victim’s arms and one of his legs had been severed.
Some residents in the community said they are on edge after the gruesome discovery.
One woman was so shaken by the violence she asked not to be identified.
“It’s just scary for us because we don’t know nothing that happened,” she said. “All we know it was a fire and then we find out there’s a body in the basement.”
Authorities gathered evidence from the scene, but have not said what sparked the fire.
“They were breaking down the windows next door and there were firefighters everywhere,” neighborhood resident Carlos C. said. “There was so much going on.”
Neighbors said the victim rented the home and lived there with his two adult sons. They said the family was relatively new to the neighborhood and had only been on the block for the last two years or so.
While the investigation into the heinous crime continues, some in the usually quiet neighborhood have been left shaken and afraid.
“That’s scary and spooky,” one neighbor said. “I didn’t sleep. It’s crazy.”
No other injuries were reported, and Area Four detectives are investigating.
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