Family members say a man was shot dead during a carjacking in the South Loop over the weekend, but police are releasing few details of the attack and won’t even say whether the man’s Mercedes was stolen.
Jacek Rudnicki, 44, was found in the street in the first block of East 24th Street about 4:30 a.m. Sunday with two gunshot wounds, according to Chicago police. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rudnicki had been texting a friend about heading to a party somewhere on the Near South Side about 3:30 a.m., according to the family’s lawyer, Gordon Learn.
An hour later, he was found on the street and the 2018 Mercedes SUV he was driving was missing, Learn said. The car belonged to his mother, but Rudnicki used it to drive for Lyft and Uber. Rudnicki’s cell phone and wallet were found on him, the lawyer said.
Paramedics tried in vain to revive Rudnicki as he lay in the snow, according to a police report. Officers noticed “broken car glass fragments,” some covered with blood, near Rudnicki’s body, along with two shell casings, the report states.
But there was “no vehicle” at the scene, according to the report.
Rudnicki’s family believe someone shot him and took off in the Mercedes. Learn said the family was told the Mercedes was recovered on the South Side after the shooting.
But Chicago police would not publicly confirm that Rudnicki was a victim of a carjacking, saying only the “incident, including a possible motive, remains under investigation.” No one was in custody.
Police Supt. David Brown was asked about the attack at a news conference Monday on stepped-up efforts against carjacking. He said he had no details or updates to share.
Rudnicki lived on Harbor Drive between the Chicago River and Millennium Park, about three miles from where he was shot. His LinkedIn and Facebook pages list him as founder and president of Knowware Consulting which provides business analysis.
“He was dearly loved by a lot of people.” Learn said. “Everybody is upset by this. That man, such a loving man. Everybody’s in shock over this.”
His father is Dr. Marek Rudnicki, a surgeon who is past president of the Polish-American Medical Society in Chicago.
Neil Steinberg and Tom Schuba contributed to this report
