Businessman shoots burglar at Lincoln Square tobacco shop

CHICAGO — A smoke shop employee shot a would-be burglar who tried to break into the Lincoln Park businesses after closing time on Sunday evening, officials said.

Chicago police officers who responded to calls of a person shot in the 4700 block of North Talman around 11:45 p.m. found an 18-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his legs. The man initially told officers that someone shot at him from a black car.

But officers said the man clammed up after police received another 911 call about a burglary attempt at a business in the 2600 block of West Lawrence. Police determined that a 40-year-old man inside the business shot the 18-year-old, who was trying to enter through the back door, according to a CPD media statement.

A CWBChicago reporter saw a bicycle lying in the alley behind Big Lou’s Tobacco Shop, 2617 West Lawrence, as police spoke with someone outside the store.

The 18-year-old was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in fair condition with gunshot wounds to both legs. He is in police custody as detectives investigate the shooting, the CPD statement said.