Joe Schelstraete Chicago Uber driver dies after being shot in the head during carjacking after four men used app to hail driver in Cicero, Illinois.
And it continues. An Uber driver has died two days after being shot at during a carjacking outside of Chicago.
Joe Schelstraete, 38, was working in Cicero, Illinois Monday evening when the Hobart, Indiana native picked up four armed men who used the Uber app to hail him, just after 7.30pm, according to Fox 32.
Security footage shows the four suspects, wearing hoods over their heads, approach the app driver’s four-door Ford car. One of them got in the back seat and shot the father of three in the head, the Cicero Police Dept said in a release.
One of the men shot Schelstraete despite him giving his money and cellphone to his assailants, CBS 2 reported.
Schelstraete who primarily worked at a Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill while also picking up shifts as an Uber driver, ‘to provide’ for his family, was left brain dead and died Wednesday morning, ABC7Chicago reported.
‘Senseless tragedy’
‘The victim has no criminal history. He’s a hardworking young man that was out trying to make a dollar,’ said Cicero Police Chief Jerry Chlada.
One juvenile suspect is reportedly in custody. Three other suspects are currently being sought.
‘We are pursuing some other suspects of interest at this time,’ Chlada told media.
‘Joe was just … always smiling,’ the victim’s aunt, Kim Bova told NWTimes. ‘There was this enthusiasm to see you and ask about you. (He was) just a very warm soul.’
‘It is a really senseless tragedy,’ the relative added.
The murder has left local Uber drivers on edge.
‘When I put someone in the back of my car, I pray they don’t have a gun,’ Kevin Ferrari told FOX32.
‘There needs to be a background check, they use fake names,’ he said, reportedly calling on Uber to bolster the security of its app to prevent more attacks.
Uber responded, saying it was ‘saddened to hear about the senseless act of violence that took the life of Mr. Schelstraete. Our thoughts are with his family and we are working with law enforcement on their investigation,’ in a statement to Fox News.
Authorities continue to investigate.
