FBI agent was aiming gun at man who was fatally shot in Pilsen, Chicago police report says
Oct 27, 2026
When Chicago cops rushed to an officer-in-distress call Monday evening in Pilsen, they found an FBI agent with his gun trained on a 27-year-old man who had been shot repeatedly — and would soon be pronounced dead, according to police report.The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. in the 1700 block
of South Union Avenue, drawing scores of officers and further snarling rush hour traffic on the Near West Side, according to Chicago police and emergency radio traffic.The man who was shot suffered gunshot wounds to both legs, his chest and right flank, the police report says. At the shooting scene, a handgun was found under a bicycle as the 41-year-old agent stood by a black Nissan with flashing red and blue lights, according to the report.A responding officer told a dispatcher there had been an “FBI-involved” shooting, noting that the agent was “fine.”Nearly a day later, the circumstances of the shooting remained unclear. The FBI said an internal review had been launched, and agents were seen canvassing the area on Tuesday."The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously," the FBI said in a statement. "In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under review by the FBI’s Inspection Division."An agent with the same name listed on the police report started working for the FBI in March 2017, according to federal court records. As of late 2018, he was assigned to a squad focused on terrorism and crimes against children in the agency’s Seattle division.A 41-year-old man said he was finishing dinner with family Tuesday evening when he heard a “loud bang” followed by a barrage of gunfire.“We hit the deck. We got down,” said the man, who asked to remain anonymous. “It was quiet for another minute and we got back up and saw that there was some kind of officer in an unmarked car … getting behind his car with his gun drawn.”He said he called 911 when he saw the wounded man lying unresponsive on the sidewalk. The man was later pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital, less than an hour after he was shot, authorities said.
FBI officials gather Tuesday at the scene of a shooting involving an FBI agent that happened a day earlier.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
He had previously been arrested on May 25 for shoplifting at a Nordstrom store at 55 E. Grand Ave, according to an arrest report. He tried to steal five necklaces valued at nearly $320 but was apprehended by security guards, the report says.He had a Guatemalan passport “that did not belong to him,” although officers couldn’t immediately determine whether it was stolen, according to the report. His place of birth was listed as Venezuela.A warrant was issued for his arrest on June 1 when he failed to appear in court, records show. Before that, he was charged with damaging a woman’s windshield, but that case was quickly dropped.He had lived at the Pacific Garden Mission, a shelter at 527 W. 14th Place, according to police records.Chris Ridgeway, a manager at Pacific Garden, said the man lived in the shelter from January until March and later for a few weeks in May. Ridgeway said he remembered the man’s bleached hair and affable personality.“He seemed to be the fun guy around,” said Ridgeway. “Didn't cause any problems.”Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) said the shooting potentially stemmed from an earlier shooting or an altercation on the nearby expressway, though he acknowledged he was "not clear in what transpired."“We’ve got children here, we got families here,” Sigcho-Lopez told reporters Tuesday near the shooting scene. “To me, it’s important that we look at safety, for the safety of all of us.”Joe Ramirez said drug dealing, thefts and the recent shooting have made him consider leaving the Pilsen home where he's lived for 46 years.“I was already talking to people about selling because I can’t live around stuff like that,” said Ramirez, 77. “My son lives in Dallas [and] said, 'Well, there it is, Dad. It’s time to go.’”
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