NYPD crime scene
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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What happens when you arrange to meet up with someone after midnight to sell some merchandise from a Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist ad? Nothing good, usually. Such was the case in Chicago when an unnamed 29-year-old tried to sell his Xbox. At 1 a.m. Saturday. In northwest Chicago.

The prospective buyers, aged 15 and 19, turned into armed robbers as one produced a firearm while the other snatched the game console from the seller’s hands.

The seller introduced his own shootin’ iron into the mix and very nearly punched the 15-year-old’s ticket with a headshot that left the teen in critical condition. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old co-conspirator, also armed with a gun, took a round in the shoulder.

From Yahoo News:

A man trying to sell his video game console to two teenagers shot them after they attempted to steal it, Chicago police say.

The 29-year-old selling the console, which WFLD reported was an Xbox, met a 19 and 15-year-old around 1 a.m. Sunday in northwest Chicago.

One of the teenagers grabbed the console from the man and attempted to run off to a parked car without paying, the Chicago Sun Times reported. The other teenager was in the vehicle with a gun, the newspaper reported.

But the would-be seller also had a gun, and he used it against the teenagers. The 15-year-old was shot in the head and the 19-year-old was struck in the shoulder, WBBM reported.

 

It’s unknown if the seller really thought meeting up with strangers after midnight in a marginal neighborhood was a good idea. I’ve seen comments to the effect that arranging this meet-up was like hunting over bait when it came to luring bad guys. ‘Nothing good happens after midnight’ is an adage for a reason.

Either way, CWB Chicago indicates that police have not arrested the seller.

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47 COMMENTS

  1. “The seller introduced his own shootin’ iron into the mix and very nearly punched the 15-year-old’s ticket with a headshot that left the teen in critical condition. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old co-conspirator, also armed with a gun, took a round in the shoulder.”

    Don’t you just love a happy ending?

    *sniff*… 😉

    • People on this forum and others keep telling me that shooting under stress almost always results in misses. Either the seller is a hard-core operator, or what people say about shooting under stress is bovine feces.

      • Each instance is different, but by the description of the transaction the attackers and defender were at near bad-breath range…

      • His head and shoulder shot are probably the result of shooting under stress which indicates he was right on the edge of missing. This is not uncommon shooting under stress for most at close range, being right on the edge of missing at such close range. Notice that the head shot did not kill (at least immediately), a skilled operator would have killed with a head shot at such close range. They were close, close enough for one of them to hold a gun on the guy while the other snatched the xbox from his hands.

        My guess is he went for center mass but started jerking the trigger and was moving around which is usually the case at close range like this when most defenders are under stress. His shots ended up head & shoulder as a result.

        • You think you’re quick and highly trained, but even at “bad-breath” range, a bad guy merely flinching can throw all your hardass training out the window and cause a “miss”, just in time for a slouch on a website to speculate on your poor performance under stress.

      • We also don’t know how many rounds he fired to get those two hits. If he emptied a 19-round magazine, that would be very different than if he only took two shots.

        • Jack Wilson was a former deputy sheriff and used to run a gun range/firearms training center. He’s more experienced than the typical gun owner.

        • It all comes down to training.
          Almost every LTC holder I know spends more time shooting then LEOs.
          Some by a factor of 10 or more.

      • Only an idiot would say that people ‘always miss’ under stress. The truth is that the average person is more likely to miss under stress. But there are other variables to consider. You don’t have to be an operator.

  2. What’s the first rule of self-defense? Avoid doing stupid things at stupid times with stupid people in stupid places.

  3. Anyone notice how Yahoo News spun the story like some cowboy started shooting people over a minor theft–rather than describing the story as an armed robbery where deadly force was legally justified?

    • I strongly suspect that’s deliberate, as a result of a whole lot of new gun owners since the start of the pandemic.

      They are panicking that they are losing control of the messaging…

    • I have to admit I found bicep ‘pink mist’ to be ever-so-gratifying to see on video when Kyle was under attack.

      He wasn’t gonna walk that one off.

      Enjoy your permanent souvenir of the riot, Antifa Scum. Hand-delivered with loving care by a member of the POTG… 😉

  4. So wait, 15 y/o grabs the goods and runs to a parked care. Obviously, our hero ran after him, shooting this (unarmed?) teen in the head. (Hearing gun shots)the 19 y/o driver produces a pistola and gets a bullet for his troubles. There is something “off” about this picture. Such as justification for shooting the 15 y/o.

    But no worries, the local AG Fox doesn’t charge attempted murder and other shooting crimes….[as long as you are shooting while black].

    • “There is something “off” about this picture. Such as justification for shooting the 15 y/o.”

      Mark, quite a few 15 y/os are not children, but strapping strong young men…

      • I did not say he was a child, I said he was apparently unarmed (since that was not mentioned) and running away. That would seem to eliminate justifiable self defense. As we have seen over and over again, you cannot (in most states anyway) go chasing after the bad guys shooting at them.

        • he didn’t chase him most likely with the intent of shooting him. more to get his money. The Chicago Sun Times from the link in this article says

          “After the 29-year-old handed over the gaming console, one of the males grabbed the item and walked towards a parked vehicle without paying, police said. The man went after him and saw another person sitting inside the vehicle with a gun.

          The man pulled out his own gun and fired shots, according to police.

          The 15-year-old was struck in the head and taken to Community First Medical Center in critical condition, police said. The other, 19, was shot in the shoulder and was taken to the same hospital in fair condition. ”

          Ok,

          1. He handed over the X-Box and one of the kids grabbed it.

          2. The kid walked towards a parked vehicle without paying

          3. The man went after him and saw another person sitting inside the vehicle with a gun.

          then according to the Chicago link

          4. The man pulled out his own gun and fired shots, according to police.

        • “3. The man went after him and saw another person sitting inside the vehicle with a gun.

          then according to the Chicago link

          4. The man pulled out his own gun and fired shots, according to police.“

          No mention of physical attack or threat with gun by either the 15-year-old or the 19-year-old.

          Murder.

    • But no worries, the local AG Fox doesn’t charge attempted murder and other shooting crimes….[as long as you are shooting while black].

      Yep, “mutual combat”

    • One wonder’s if the shooter even owned the XBox. Good shootin’ pardner. On a sad note a former girlfriend just died. Read it on my fakebook HS group. Anniversary of my mom passing away too.

    • The sequence of events is a little clearer in a couple of related stories.

      According to the ones I read, the 15 year old was taking the Xbox back to the car, and when the man followed him, the 19 year old still in the car pointed a gun at him. That’s apparently when he drew his own pistol and fired.

  5. Box up the XBox and mail it. Have the funds transferred into an account. You never even have to meet. This is stupid following stupid. What a load of bs to lose your life over!

    • Ehhh…a lot of the plague of carjackers are 15 year old punk’s. And 19. Even a child is known by his doings!

    • I met a person for a mountain bike, but I went directly to his house in the middle of the day. If you need to meet someone in public for a transaction like this, then meet at the police department parking lot.

  6. Within the first few sentences of the article, I read the words “Chicago”, “after midnight”, and “Craigslist”. Those told me all I needed to know, and I stopped there.

    (Let’s see how many readers scroll down this far to see this, lol)

    • ““Just legalize all drugs. And all the crime will go away.””

      Until someone else wants your drugs or other stuff then all bets are off.

  7. I’ve seen comments to the effect that arranging this meet-up was like hunting over bait when it came to luring bad guys.

    Charles Bronson would have had a field day with Craigslist.
    Thieves and pervs galore.

  8. This is the second X-Box selling incident involving Craigslist that I have heard of in the last couple of weeks, but about the 70’th crime in the last week nationwide linked to Craigslist. Its been known for a while that Craigslist is basically a cesspool of criminal activity.

    In the past it was worse than it is today though. When Craigslist got rid of the majority of prostitution using Craigslist by getting rid of the personals section the amount of Craigslist related robbery and assault crime (reported nationwide) dropped almost 70%.

    But its still pretty bad – Craigslist related murders, rapes, robberies, assault, scams are still a thing today, although robberies, assault, and scams are more common. Its not unusual for the stranger you meet to bring a gun or other weapon with them and keep it handy to use even if its not a crime intent thing.

    Crime by appointment.

    People are stupid not to realize “hey, the internet is not the utopia I thought it was. Not everyone on the internet is honest and meeting strangers from the internet at 1 AM in a dark parking lot can be a bad thing.” Just how stupid does a person need to be to not realize that? But one of the first things a lot of self proclaimed “smart” and internet savvy people do when they want to sell something is go to Craigslist and set up an appointemnt with a stranger usually at night (the excuse always being they work during the day and can only meet after work in the evening) to meet in some out of the way sparsely public but usually empty at that time place.

  9. the older brother is in custody and charged with armed robbery.
    the younger brother has died.
    will they charge the girlfriend in the car with murder?
    private defense attorney claims no firearm was recovered from the brothers… uh oh.

    • In a majority of cases, claims by private attorneys retained by the family of the deceased thug, who presumably have limited access to evidence, are as reliable as newspaper articles.

  10. “the older brother is in custody and charged with armed robbery.

    private defense attorney claims no firearm was recovered from the brothers… uh oh.”

    being charged with armed robbery sort of screams he had a gun.

  11. Sellers should demand that the transaction happens at a police station. The stations by me even have dedicated parking spots right in front of the doors with cameras too for online transactions. If the buyer doesn’t like the idea of meeting at a police station there couldn’t possibly be a more obvious red flag.

  12. sounds fishy….I bet the seller was trying to rob the teens of their money… and with 2 of them and one of him, they could burn his A in court….
    the only way this could be proved to be a different story was if there was video footage…

  13. https://concealednation.org/2021/10/armed-seller-plan-to-rob-online-meetup-seller-goes-wrong-for-brothers-leaving-one-dead-and-one-jailed-without-bail/

    “CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – A 14-year-old who was shot during an attempted robbery has died from his wounds, and his brother is facing felony charges for his part in the scheme. Assistant State’s Attorney Gabriella Morris provided details on the botched robbery that turned fatal for one of the suspects.

    Oscar Alvarez, 19, and his brother, Pablo Alvarez, 14, arranged an online sale meetup Saturday night using the Offer Up app, with plans to rob the 29-year-old Xbox owner of the gaming console. The grand plan was for Oscar to drive his brother to meet the victim in the 7200 block of West Waveland. Pablo was going to snatch the gaming console from the victim, run back to the car, and they would make their escape.

    What they failed to plan for was an intended victim who wasn’t cooperative. He tried to stop the vehicle from leaving, and Oscar allegedly brandished a gun, according to Morris. The owner was also armed and opened fire on the get-away car.

    Authorities say that Oscar suffered only a graze wound to his shoulder, but his younger brother was shot in the head and subsequently died. Oscar’s girlfriend was also in the car but was not injured. Oscar managed to drive away from the scene, calling 911 as he drove to St. Mary’s Hospital.

    Oscar Alvarez did admit to investigators that he hatched the plot but denied taking a gun to the meeting. During a hearing on Tuesday, his private defense attorney, Jeff Kent, reiterated that no weapon was located. Police have confirmed that no weapon was in Alvarez’s vehicle but the possibility remains that a weapon may have been discarded before the vehicle was searched by officers.

    During the hearing, prosecutors presented evidence to support robbery and armed robbery charges, and Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Alvarez held without bail. His next court date is set for November 3. It is not known if the girlfriend will be charged as an accessory, or if Oscar will face more serious charges related to the death of his brother during the commission of a felony under the Illinois “felony murder rule” which often allows accomplices to be charged with murder if a victim or suspect dies during a criminal act. “

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