Wheeling man killed, second injured at apartment complex

A Wheeling man is dead and another is injured after they were shot while in a stairwell at an apartment building on Wolf Road in Wheeling late Friday, police said.

One of the men, Jose Luis-Martinez, 25, was pronounced dead at 12:07 a.m. Saturday at Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview, according to the medical examiner's office.

The other man, also 25 of Wheeling, was in stable condition at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

The two were shot multiple times while in the front stairwell of an apartment building on the 0-100 block of North Wolf Road.

Near the scene of the shooting, residents and shoppers watched Saturday afternoon as more than 10 investigators with Wheeling police and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force walked in and out of the area blocked off by yellow police tape. Authorities combed the small apartment complex, made up of four three-story buildings, taking photographs and measurements.

No one was in custody as of Saturday night, but police said they are following up on several leads.

Resident Jose Garcia moved from Las Vegas to the apartment building directly north of the shootings just three months ago. He and his wife were in bed when they heard what they believed to be three consecutive fireworks.

"Given the time of the year I just thought it was some kids shooting off fireworks," he said. "It wasn't until the police came right after that we realized something was wrong."

Garcia didn't know who the victims were. He said a group of young people usually hang out right outside the building where the shooting took place, but they never gave him problems.

The four buildings are located in between two small strip malls and immediately south of a Wheeling Police Department Neighborhood Resource Center. An officer on the scene said there's a gym inside and that neighborhood watch meetings are held there.

Mimi Yum, who owns the Park Manor Cleaners less than 100 feet south of the crime scene, said she's never seen anything as serious as a homicide in the 20 years she's been there.

"I've never seen this kind of crime," Yum said. "I really don't have any problems here."

Anyone with information that could help with the investigation should call the Wheeling police at (847) 459-2632.

• Daily Herald staff writer Sheila Ahern contributed to this report.