Three Shot, One Fatally, In Park Forest (Video/Story)

More photographs from the scene here.

Lisa from Calumet City gazes down Herndon Street at the scene of the shooting. (Photo: Gary Kopycinski)

Update: Two Charged In Shooting Death of Darren B. Easterling

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Police confirm three were shot, one fatally, Sunday afternoon near the intersection of Herndon and Indiana Streets in Park Forest.

This normally quiet neighborhood in the East Lincolnwood area of the south suburban village had residents and visitors gathering and asking questions. The incident occurred on a bright, sunny afternoon, where children would otherwise ride bikes and parents walk infants in strollers.

“I just want to know where the parents are,” one woman at the scene said. Another resident at the scene said she has lived in Park Forest since 1976, but never saw anything like this in the neighborhood.

Police had taped off Indiana Street from Illinois Street north to Thomas Street, and Herndon Street from Monitor Street to Indiana Street. Residents who were out at the time of the shooting and whose homes were within the tangled web of police tape were not permitted to return home while officers from Park Forest and surrounding areas gathered evidence from the scene.

eNews Park Forest observed vehicles from Park Forest, Rich Township Homeland Security,

Police will only say shots were fired sometime after 2:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon, but by 6:00 p.m., the one deceased remained covered in the parkway as residents, some of them young children, looked on.

Detectives were seen taking measurement of what appeared to be a number of shell casings littering the street near the body.

Park Forest, a largely bedroom community about 30 miles south of the Chicago Loop, has seen a drop off in calls for service since the village adopted its crime-free housing ordinance during the 2008-2009 fiscal year. There were 20,191 calls for service to SouthCom dispatch center in 2007, and only 16,504 calls for service in 2011. The village saw one homicide per year from 2004 to 2007, all reported “cleared” by police, meaning arrests were made. There were 2 homicides in, 2008, 1 in 2009, and 4 in 2010. Of these, one remains uncleared.

There were no homicides in 2011, according to records made public by the village.

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Update: Two Charged In Shooting Death of Darren B. Easterling

The writer is a village trustee in Park Forest. This reporting is his own. This publication is privately owned and is not affiliated with the Village of Park Forest in any way.