ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Security camera video shows the moment three suspects opened fire on a Jonathan Avenue residence Tuesday, killing a 28-year-old Rockford man.
Police were called to the scene of the crime around 5:30 p.m. The victim, Louie Lee, was taken to the hospital but later died.
Surveillance video shows three masked individuals approaching the house and opening fire on the occupants inside once they open the door.
Louie’s wife, Tyshema McIntosh Lee, said of her husband, “He was a family person. He wasn’t really for this type of stuff.”
Lee said she was inside when the shooting started.
“It happened real fast. They just opened up my door and started shooting. At first, they left back out, which I thought they’d left, but then they came back in and started shooting again,” she said.
Lee says she has nothing to say to the men who killed her husband.
“I don’t want to talk to them,” she said Wednesday. “I mean, I wish it never happened, and then all the other incidents that happened the same night.”
The shooting was one of three that rattled the city’s West side on Tuesday.
Later, around 7:45 p.m., a 16-year-old was shot in an apparent drug deal. 19-year-old Tyree Isom was apprehended and charged with the crime.
Around 8:30 p.m., four people were shot in the 400 block of Independence Avenue. Two of the victims were said to have suffered serious, life-threatening injuries.
Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said the shootings appear to be targeted and not random, and did not believe there was a threat to public safety.
“I can’t say they’re gang related, but the individuals that are involved, the individuals are known to one another,” Redd said.
Lee said she will remember her husband as the life of the party. “He was a happy person. He liked to party… He used to act like he didn’t like to party, but he liked to party.”
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said he is both saddened and infuriated by the recent violence.
“This is something that we, as a city, have an opportunity to say ‘what are we going to do about this?’ This is, obviously, not acceptable. We, obviously, all agree on that. So, let’s wrap our arms around this problem and work together and get to the root cause and stop this problem from existing and plaguing our community.”