A man gunned down in a Wrigleyville alley over the weekend worked two jobs to support his wife and two daughters, and was about to start a night shift at one of them when he was killed, according to his family.
Police have not given a possible motive for the fatal shooting of Hermilo Beltran, 47, in the 3400 block of North Clark Street around 10:15 p.m. Sunday, but relatives said his wallet was missing.
“My uncle was a hard worker,” Elvis Guiracocha said on a GoFundMe page. “He was a husband, father and provider for his family. Now begins the challenging times for those he leaves behind: my aunt and her two daughters, the oldest 16 years old and the youngest 9 years old.”
Police say Beltran was shot in the chest and armpit, and was pronounced dead at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. No one is in custody.
Beltran was on his way to work at the Happy Camper pizza restaurant, which released a message of Facebook calling him one of the “unsung heroes of our neighborhood.”
“Those who work day in and day out to keep our neighborhood up and running ... are truly the backbone of our community, and for his time in our community, we are grateful,” the restaurant said.
This is the third murder this year in the 19th police district, which includes Wrigleyville. There were none this time last year.
The shooting occurred just days before the police district held its annual public safety meeting ahead of the baseball season, which begins April 7.
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), whose ward includes the murder scene, said the murder “doesn’t bode well for the general tone of the entertainment detail in and around Wrigley.”
Shortly before former Mayor Rahm Emanuel left office in 2019, the 19th district had roughly 400 officers. Now the district is “hovering just under 300,” Tunney said.
“Everybody needs more. I don’t want to minimize the fact that this is a citywide issue,” he said. “I don’t know what that right number is. But I did have a commitment under the previous administration that we would maintain around 400.”
Tunney said the shooting is unsettling proof that “this can happen anywhere.”
“You’ve seen it in River North. You’ve seen it in the Gold Coast. You’ve seen it on the South and West sides,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is a Lake View tragedy. This is a real problem for our city.”
