Shooting victim refuses to cooperate with Arlington Hts. police

Before he was shot Wednesday, a man flashed gang signs and shouted gang slogans, Sgt. Tom Seleski of the Arlington Heights Police Department said Friday.

"In the follow-up interview, the victim was caught in several lies," Seleski said.

Felipe Mora, 20, was shot about 10:30 p.m. outside the Tanglewood Apartments, located on the 2100 block of South Goebbert Road.

He was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, where he was treated and released.

When police first interviewed Mora, he gave them a fake name, the wrong location of the shooting and denied any gang affiliation, Seleski said.

However, after talking to witnesses, police learned Mora was truthful on very few things. It turns out he is a gang member with a criminal past who was in the United States illegally, Seleski said.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," he said. Mora "eventually stopped cooperating with us."

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department was contacted and a representative of the department picked up Mora on Friday, Seleski said.

There has been some gang activity at Tanglewood Apartment in the past, but it isn't a major problem for the complex, Seleski said.

"I'd hate to portray an area having a gang problem," he said. "But any time you have an apartment complex of that size, you are going to have a few people you don't want."

Police learned of the shooting when a neighbor called 911 on Wednesday after hearing gunshots.