Aurora teen charged with shooting gun in neighborhood, threatening customer

An 18-year-old has been charged with several felonies after Aurora police said he shot a gun in a residential area, then threatened a convenience store customer with a firearm Monday on the city's east side.

Christopher Martinez, of the 2000 block of Fox Pointe Drive, is charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm while ineligible for a Firearm Owner's Identification card, and three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to Kane County court records and police.

According to Aurora police spokesman Paris Lewbel, authorities began investigating just after 7:30 p.m. Monday after receiving a call of shots fired on the 1100 block of Douglas Avenue.

Officers found shell casings in the street, and several people who were inside their homes told officers they heard gunshots. A homeowner's security video provided authorities with a suspect vehicle from the shooting, in which no one was hit, Lewbel said.

Later that night, police responded to a disturbance at a convenience store on the 1-99 block of Hill Avenue, also on the city's east side, in which a man pointed a gun at a customer while shopping. Surveillance video showed the suspect and his vehicle, which matched the description of the vehicle in the shooting on Douglas Avenue, Lewbel said.

Other officers on patrol spotted the vehicle and made a traffic stop near Hill Avenue and East Benton Street.

Police found a gun and open alcohol in the car, Lewbel said, and took Martinez and two other people in the vehicle to the police station for questioning. Martinez was charged and the others were released without charges, Lewbel said.

Martinez is being held at the Kane County jail on $50,000 bail, meaning he must post $5,000 to be released while the case is pending.

He is next due in court May 28. He faces a sentence ranging from probation to up to five years in prison if convicted of the most severe charge.