Man Shot In Face And Abdomen In South Side Grocery Store Robbery

A man known by his neighbors only as "Chris" was critically injured in a shooting while on the job at the South Side grocery store he co-owned with his brother.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a gunman entered the 71st Street Market at the intersection of 71st and Rhodes just before 7 p.m. Wednesday and shot the store's 52-year-old employee in the face and abdomen during a robbery. The gunman ran away from the store and no suspects are yet in custody.

The man, a father of three, had improved to stable condition by Thursday, according to the Chicago Tribune. The manager for the building that housed the store, Dominick Riccordino, noted that surveillance cameras were functioning both in and outside of the store at the time of the robbery.

"If the police don't catch this guy, we all might as well leave the city of Chicago," Riccordino told the Tribune. "He is a good guy."

Customers told the Sun-Times the man often helped them out if they did not have enough money to buy the food they needed and sometimes provided them with extras. They said they were shocked by the shooting.

Photo by [puamelia] via Flickr.