Lake County Gazette

At the Dec. 6 meeting of the City of Zion council, residents told council about a shooting that took place near 1800 Horeb Street earlier in the month.

James Layer, who lives at 1900 Horeb Street – directly across from where the Dec. 4 shooting occurred just after midnight – recounted how the gunshots awoke him and his wife and sent his street and neighborhood into chaos. He told the council that the house involved has been nothing but trouble since he moved in 20 years ago.

“It's just getting bad and something has to be done,” Layer told council. “I got a bullet hole in my car from a shooting over here about a month ago. So I'm just trying to find out what can be done to stop some of this senseless stuff at that particular block.”

WGN9 reports the shooting left four teenagers with minor injuries and an 18-year-old male, who was shot in the abdomen, in critical but stable condition.

In addition to Layer, another resident asked the city council what they were doing to mitigate the violence that has increased in the city, saying it was a sundown town when he first moved here. He recalled a shooting on his street where he tried to assist the police with their investigation but he was disregarded. He said residents have a non-communicative relationship with police.