Man dies a day after he was shot in the head in gang-related Austin shooting

[Lucinda F. Boyd]

A man has died a day after he was shot in the head in an on-going gang dispute as he was driving in a car in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side.

At 12:25 a.m. Monday, two men were driving north in the 500 block of North Leamington Avenue in a Chevrolet Malibu sedan when at least one gunman approached them on foot and opened fire, shooting the driver in the head and the passenger in the leg, Austin District Lt. Michael Stevens said.

The man shot in the head was identified as James Gardner, 30, of an unidentified address, who was pronounced dead at 7:28 p.m. Tuesday at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to a Cook County Medical Examiner’s office spokesman.

The 26-year-old man who shot in the leg is in “stable” condition at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, according to a News Affairs release.

The car they were driving in also crashed into a tree after they were shot, News Affairs Officer Robert Perez said.

The shooting is believed to be part of an on-going dispute within the Vice Lords gang, Stevens said...