Shots fired near Cook Co. commissioner's house

A missing address number may explain why someone shot at a neighbor's house instead Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica's home, which police say was the actual target of a shooting early Wednesday.

"All the evidence we have now leads us to believe it was targeted," said Thomas Weitzel, police chief in near West suburban Riverside, where Peraica lives. "This is not a random act of violence."

Police believe Peraica's high profile politically or perhaps his work as a private attorney may have prompted the shooting, said Weitzel, who also suggested the incident may have been the work of a "disgruntled client."

Peraica said he did not realize the popping sounds that awoke him early Wednesday were gunshots until a detective told him that evening.

"I'm not going to be intimidated by this kind of hooliganism," said Peraica, who suggested his efforts to reform government may have played a role in the shooting.

He claims he has been threatened as far back as 2002. "When it rises to this level, it does surprise one," he said.

Bounded by the Des Plaines River and a forest preserve, Peraica's neighborhood on Scottswood Road has winding streets that are difficult to navigate and gas streetlights which make house numbers difficult to read, Weitzel said.

And one of the address numbers was missing on the neighbor's house, so it may have been mistaken for Peraica's home, the chief said.

Weitzel said the neighbors have no known enemies and the police received no calls regarding suspicious activities. Peraica has been cooperating with the investigation, Weitzel said.

Emergency dispatch received calls at 3:05 and 3:06 a.m. Wednesday reporting shots fired. At least one caller reported hearing five shots, Weitzel said. Officers responding to the call found no car, no pedestrians and no victims.

About 4 p.m. Wednesday, residents of the house discovered seven rounds from a small caliber gun, probably a .22 or .25, Weitzel said. Some were lodged in the front door. Others went through the front window.

Another neighbor reported hearing the shots and seeing a dark colored, mid-size, four-door sedan with a loud muffler leaving the scene, Weitzel said. That combined with the fact that the police recovered no shell casings, led investigators to conclude a vehicle was used and that the casings fell inside it, Weitzel said.

The police have increased foot and vehicle patrols in the area and have issued a community e-mail alert asking that anyone with information contact detectives at (708) 447-2127, ext. 284.