West Chicago man shot to death in Aurora

A 25-year-old West Chicago man was killed in an apparent drive-by shooting early Wednesday morning on Aurora’s near east side, police said.

Police said the victim, Luis E. Salinas, of the 1200 block of Kings Cross Drive, was sitting in the rear seat of a car parked facing south in the 0-99 block of Rose Street.

The vehicle also was occupied by a 17-year-old girl in the driver’s seat and a 16-year-old girl in the front passenger seat, authorities said. Both of the teens are from Aurora and are acquaintances of Salinas, according to police.

Police said the three were approached about 1 a.m. by several people in a dark-colored vehicle traveling north on Rose Street. The other vehicle stopped for a short time before one of the occupants fired multiple shots into the back seat, striking Salinas several times. The vehicle then fled north on Rose to eastbound Galena Boulevard.

The females, both uninjured, called police from the area of Ohio and Benton streets. Officers located the victim’s vehicle in the 0-99 block of South Ohio Street and Salinas was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police have not ruled out street gang involvement as a motive. Anyone with information is asked to call Aurora police investigators at (630) 256-5500 or Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at (630) 892-1000. Callers to Crime Stoppers are anonymous and qualify for a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to any arrests in the case.

An autopsy is pending with the Kane County Coroner.