We’re almost halfway through the year and like time, the number of shootings in Chicago just keeps ticking.
Despite efforts by police to beef up patrols, roughly two-dozen shootings have taken place on Chicago-area expressways. The string of violence while driving has residents concerned. So much to the point that one man is wearing a bulletproof vest while traveling in the city. Brian Althimer is a former Marine and resident of the city’s Englewood community. He says he doesn’t feel safe in the city.
“It’s getting way too bad out here,” Althimer told Good Day Chicago. “I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve actually purchased this vest.”
The vest Althimer is referring to is a tactical vest that weighs close to 50 pounds. When he’s driving throughout the city, he wears it. “Recently, I moonlighted at a bar up on the North side and got off around 5-5:15. Got off around Lake Shore Drive, I hit Jackson and I noticed a tan SUV GM model behind me. And I’m not paying it no mind and all of a sudden this vehicle pulls up on the side of me and now they’re pacing me from the passenger side and this guy in the passenger seat waves a gun at me.”
Althimer says he slammed on his brakes and got off of the expressway. He contacted the police and filed a report. So far, no one is in custody.
Authorities say Chicago-area expressway shootings have been steadily on the rise. Last Thursday, a truck drive was shot on the Dan Ryan Expressway. The incident marked the second eruption of highway gunfire over the past week.
