Aaron Gordon was struck in the face by a stray bullet as he shielded his girlfriend from gunfire aimed—haphazardly—at another man during a fight on the Far South Side on July Fourth, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday at a bond hearing for the alleged gunman.
Sean Liggett | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.
Gordon, 21, was parked at the Riverside Village Apartment complex, and was sitting in his car with his girlfriend as her children and another friend shot off fireworks, Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Carlson said.
Sean Liggett, 26, walked up to a car that was pulling into a space near Gordon, and began arguing with the three men inside before walking back to his grandmother’s apartment.
As those men parked their car, Liggett walked out of the apartment, walked up to the car, reached through the open rear passenger window and slapped a man sitting in a back seat, stating, “Bitch, I’ll kill you,” Carlson said.
Gordon’s friend saw Liggett holding a gun, and hustled her three children away from the cars as Liggett opened fire, Carlson said.
Liggett allegedly fired seven shots at the man seated in the back seat of the car near Gordon’s, missing his target. Instead, a bullet struck Gordon in the head as he tried to protect his girlfriend, Carlson said. Gordon died at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn later that day.
Police found a shell casing from a “large caliber bullet,” stamped with the brand name “Speer,” by a dumpster near where Liggett had been standing when he fired, Carlson said.
A warrant search of Liggett’s grandmother’s apartment turned up a Crown Royal bag holding 47 .45-caliber bullets, also stamped “Speer,” Carlson said. Multiple witnesses identified Liggett as the shooter, Carlson said.
Judge James Brown ordered Liggett held without bond. his next court date is Sept. 20.