Another shooting rattles Elgin

Three young Elgin men were wounded Sunday night on the city's east side in a shooting police believe was gang-related.

Benito Suarez, 21, of the 400 block of Ann Street, was shot in the back at 11:10 p.m. at Ann and Gifford streets and taken to Sherman Hospital, police said. His condition was not available Monday.

Xavier Granger, 19, also of the 400 block of Ann Street, was shot in the foot and remained at Sherman Hospital, according to his grandmother Betty Granger, although police said he'd been released.

"I just went up to see him today; he's fine," she said.

A 17-year-old boy whose name police did not release was shot in the leg. He was treated at Sherman Hospital and released, police said.

Betty Granger said the 17-year-old was another grandson, Raymond Granger, Xavier Granger's cousin.

Betty Granger said that Suarez, who her grandchildren grew up with, stopped by her house Sunday night on his way to buy cigarettes from a gas station.

Her grandsons said they'd go with him and all three were shot a few blocks later while walking to the gas station, she said.

Police said Monday the shooting might have been a drive-by.

The Grangers ran home after being shot and a trail of blood was still visible on the sidewalk and steps leading to the Granger house.

"They came in and said, 'We've been shot,' " Granger said. "We thought they were kidding."

Betty Granger said her grandsons are not gang members.

Xavier Granger, named the 2004 Youth of the Year for the Elgin Boys and Girls Club, now attends Elgin Community College as a freshman, where he's majoring in business management, his grandmother said.

Raymond Granger went to Larkin High School and has earned his GED, she said.

"They are not in a gang," Betty Granger said. "Those are teenagers that are going to school and trying to be something."

In March, police searched Betty Granger's home, looking for a gun they never found. The city later agreed to pay for damages done when police searched the home.

Family members and friends Monday gathered at Suarez's home but declined to comment.

Court records, however, show Suarez has a criminal history.

In 2005, the 21-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in prison for aggravated use of a weapon, records show.

That same year, Suarez was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated use of a weapon in a vehicle with a previous conviction.

Also in 2005, he also was issued a 60-day sentence in the Kane County jail for the misdemeanor charge of aggravated battery.

The shooting marked Elgin's seventh in two months, leaving some neighbors discouraged.

The other six shootings, all on the east side, left two dead and four injured.

Two of the shootings were near schools -- one just after classes let out at Sheridan Elementary School, and the other while 7- and 8- year-olds played football and were cheerleading at Drake Field.

The organizer of a peace march held nearly two weeks ago in protest of the spate of shootings said neighbors should stay vigilant, organize and make their presence known at night to squelch the "wild west" activity.

"This is just a kick in the teeth," said Jim Vaughn, head of Summit Park Neighbors, the area in which Sunday's shooting occurred. "It's just these young studs, they don't care. But we're going to show them that we care, I promise you that."

Elgin police ask that anyone with information related to Sunday's shooting call the gang unit at (847) 289-2600.