CHICAGO (AP) — A man and teen were ordered held without bond Thursday in the shooting death of an 8-year-old Chicago girl, who was walking and holding her mother’s hand when she was shot in the head by a gunman authorities say was targeting someone else.

Melissa Ortega died Saturday along a busy city street in a shooting a Cook County Circuit Court judge said showed “an absolute disregard for human life.”

Prosecutors say Xavier Guzman, 27, was driving a car that stopped in the Little Village neighborhood on the city’s Southwest Side on Saturday afternoon after seeing a rival gang member flash gang signs. A 16-year-old then got out of the car and fired, prosecutors said. They say he intended to shoot a 29-year-old gang member who was leaving a store. The teen is being tried as an adult due to the seriousness of the crime, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said.

Xavier Guzman, 27

Both were arrested on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. The teen is also charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Police Superintendent David Brown said Wednesday the two were arrested after detectives analyzed surveillance video and license plate reader technology that allowed them to track down the vehicle Guzman was driving. The surveillance video showed the car pull into an alley, where the gunman got out of the car and began firing, he said. The video then showed the gunman get back in the vehicle, which fled the scene.

Melissa, who was a student at Emiliano Zapata Academy, an elementary school in the city’s heavily-Mexican neighborhood, according to the Chicago Teachers Union, was pronounced dead at a hospital later Saturday.

Teen, 27-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in death of Melissa Ortega

The man police believe was the intended target was shot in the back and was hospitalized.

The girl’s mother, Araceli Leanos, said in a statement released by a family representative that the two had been walking together immediately before the shooting. She said Melissa had just asked if they could get a hamburger after going to the bank when “My daughter stopped holding my hand and without explanation I found her on the floor with a puddle of blood and a bullet to her head.”

Leanos said her family emigrated to Chicago from Mexico six months ago “in search of the American dream.”

“Instead I get to live a nightmare the rest of my life,” she said.

Chicago has seen a spike in homicides, recording roughly 800 last year — the city’s deadliest in a quarter century.

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Arne Duncan appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Feb. 22, 2016. (WTTW News)

Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan blasted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s public safety strategy as a complete failure on Wednesday during a speech to the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, the clearest sign yet that he may be gearing up to run for mayor of Chicago in 2023.

Duncan, who led the Chicago Public Schools from 2001 until 2009 when he joined former President Barack Obama’s cabinet, said the Chicago Police Department was “in crisis” and called for a complete re-evaluation of how the city tackles crime and violence. Officers should focus only on violent crime, and the city should hire non-sworn workers to address everything from property crime to traffic accidents, he said.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Duncan told reporters during a virtual news conference after his speech to the chamber, which was closed to the public. “We are crazy to keep doing what we are doing.”

After Obama’s term ended, Duncan founded Chicago CRED, a violence prevention organization, and serves as a managing partner of the Emerson Collective.

Duncan did not mention Lightfoot by name, and told reporters his criticism was not personal, but motivated by his “extraordinary concern” about the surge in violence in Chicago that saw more than 800 homicides and soaring numbers of carjackings in 2021.

When asked by reporters Wednesday if he was planning a mayoral run, Duncan said he is “absolutely thinking about it.”  

Pressed by reporters, Duncan declined to call for the resignation of Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, even as he said Chicago’s violence surge was due in part by a “crisis of leadership.”

Duncan was directly critical of Brown’s decision to move officers assigned to patrol Chicago’s 22 police districts to citywide anti-crime teams. That has left Chicago’s neighborhoods under policed and allowed a “vicious cycle” of retaliation to fuel violent crime to take root, Duncan said.

Duncan was also critical of Lightfoot’s decision to eliminate 618 vacant positions from the Chicago Police Department as part of the city’s 2021 budget. Amid calls to significantly reduce spending on police, CPD’s 2020 budget dropped by approximately 3.3% to $1.69 billion in 2021.

In 2022, the budget for the Chicago Police Department willl rise by $189 million, with more than 75% of that increase earmarked to cover the cost of the pay raise called for in the new contract with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.

“We have a department that has been defunded and demoralized,” said Duncan, noting that Chicago has more officers than New York or Los Angeles but has significantly higher rates than violent crime.

In a September 2020 speech to the City Club of Chicago, Duncan proposed reducing the size of the Chicago Police Department from approximately 13,000 officers to approximately 11,000 officers. That would free up approximately $100 million that should be used for violence prevention efforts.

Duncan did not repeat that proposal Wednesday, and instead said that the number of officers is less important than how they are deployed and what they are asked to do.

A spokesperson for Lightfoot’s campaign said Duncan’s proposal would actually defund the Chicago Police, while Lightfoot “has fought to provide our officers with the resources they need to keep our communities safe.”

“Duncan wants Chicagoans to believe we have to choose between a well-funded social safety net and a fully resourced police department. He’s wrong,” said Dave Mellet, the executive director Light PAC, Lightfoot’s political action committee.

City leaders must also accelerate the pace of reforms required by a federal court as detailed by a consent decree designed to ensure that the Chicago Police Department does not routinely violate the constitutional rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans, Duncan said.

The most recent report from the team tracking the Chicago Police Department’s progress found that it missed 40% of the agreement’s deadlines.

“We must put reform in a much higher gear,” Duncan said. “We have to do it faster.”

Brown said on Jan. 4 that his No. 1 priority in 2022 for reducing violence in Chicago is to “build trust” with Chicagoans.

That cannot happen without real progress on reform efforts, Duncan said.

Duncan called it a “perversion of where we should be” that the city routinely spends twice as much every year settling lawsuits alleging police misconduct than on violence prevention efforts.

Duncan also criticized Lightfoot’s proposal to fight crime by going after the profits earned by Chicago’s gangs and their leaders.

That will “invite abuse” and “makes no sense” because Chicago’s gangs are fractured and leaders “don’t have any assets to speak of,” Duncan said.

Too often Chicago’s leaders have obscured the root causes of crime by offering misleading data about crimes committed by those released on bail or on electronic monitoring, Duncan said.

“Let’s be honest about what the issues are,” Duncan said.

The next mayoral election is set for Feb. 23, 2023. 

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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A serviceman checks his machine-gun in a shelter on the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants at frontline with Ukrainian government forces in Slavyanoserbsk, Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (AP Photo / Alexei Alexandrov)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s leaders sought Tuesday to reassure the nation that an invasion from neighboring Russia was not imminent, even as they acknowledged the threat is real and received a shipment of U.S. military equipment to shore up their defenses.

Moscow has denied it is planning an assault, but it has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine in recent weeks and is holding military drills at multiple locations in Russia. That has led the United States and its NATO allies to rush to prepare for a possible war.

Several rounds of high stakes diplomacy have failed to yield any breakthroughs, and tensions escalated further this week. NATO said it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region, and the U.S. ordered 8,500 troops on higher alert for potential deployment to Europe as part of an alliance “response force” if necessary. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said he is prepared to send troops to protect NATO allies in Europe.

In a show of European unity in Berlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an easing of the crisis.

“We … expect clear steps from Russia that will contribute to a de-escalation of the situation,” Scholz said.

Macron, who said he would talk with President Vladimir Putin by phone Friday, added: “If there is aggression, there will be retaliation and the cost will be very high.”

The U.S. and its allies have vowed to hit Russia with sanctions like never before if Moscow sends its military into Ukraine but they have provided few details, saying it’s best to keep Putin guessing.

The U.S. State Department has ordered the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to leave the country, and it said that nonessential embassy staff could leave. Britain said it, too, was withdrawing some diplomats and dependents from its embassy, and families of Canadian diplomatic staff also have been told to leave.

In Ukraine, however, authorities have sought to project calm in order not to destabilize the situation and avoid panic — and many citizens have expressed skepticism that there will be an invasion soon.

In parliament, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that “as of today, there are no grounds to believe” that Russia is preparing to invade imminently, noting that its troops have not formed what he called a battle group that could force its way through the border.

“Don’t worry, sleep well,” he said. “No need to have your bags packed.”

Reznikov’s remarks follow multiple reassurances from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials. On Monday, Zelenskyy told the nation that the situation was “under control.”

In an interview aired late Monday, however, the defense minister acknowledged that “there are risky scenarios” that “are possible and probable in the future.”

Russia has said Western accusations it is planning an attack are merely a cover for NATO’s own planned provocations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday once again accused the U.S. of “fomenting tensions” around Ukraine, a former Soviet state that has been locked in a conflict with Russia for almost eight years.

Moscow has rejected Western demands to pull its troops back from areas near Ukraine, saying it will deploy and train them wherever necessary on its territory as a necessary response to what it called “hostile” moves by the U.S. and its allies. Thousands of troops from Russia’s Southern and Western Military Districts took part Tuesday in readiness drills in those regions. The maneuvers involved Iskander missiles and dozens of warplanes.

In 2014, following the ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president in Kyiv, Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and threw its weight behind a separatist insurgency in the country’s industrial heartland in the east. The fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels has killed over 14,000 people, and efforts to reach a peaceful settlement have stalled.

In the latest standoff, Russia wants guarantees from the West that NATO will never admit Ukraine as a member and that the alliance would curtail other actions, such as stationing troops in former Soviet bloc countries. Some of these, like the membership pledge, are nonstarters for NATO, creating a seemingly intractable stalemate that many fear can only end in a war.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of massing troops near rebel-controlled regions in the east, aiming to retake them by force — accusations Kyiv has rejected.

Analysts say Ukraine’s leaders are caught between trying to calm the nation and ensuring it gets sufficient assistance from the West in case of an invasion.

“Ukrainian authorities are trying to prevent destabilization and panic inside the country, hence the calming statements saying there is no threat of an imminent Russian invasion,” political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said.

“The Kremlin’s plans include undermining the situation inside Ukraine, fomenting hysteria and fear among Ukrainians, and the authorities in Kyiv find it increasingly difficult to contain this snowball,” he added.

The crisis didn’t stop a large group of people from rallying in front of the parliament in Kyiv, demanding changes to the country’s tax regulations and even clashing with police at one point.

Other Ukrainians watched warily.

“Of course we fear Russia’s aggression and a war, which will lead to the further impoverishment of Ukrainians. But we will be forced to fight and defend ourselves,” said Dmytro Ugol, a 46-year-old construction worker in Kyiv. “I am prepared to fight, but my entire family doesn’t want it and lives in tension. Every day, the news scares us more and more.”

Putting U.S.-based troops on heightened alert for Europe on Monday suggested diminishing hope in the West that Putin will back away from what U.S. President Joe Biden himself has said looks like a threat to invade Ukraine.

As part of a new $200 million in security assistance directed to Ukraine from the United States, a shipment including equipment and munitions arrived Tuesday in Ukraine, according to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

The U.S. moves are being done in tandem with actions by other NATO members to bolster a defensive presence in Eastern Europe. Denmark is sending a frigate and F-16 warplanes to Lithuania; Spain is sending four fighter jets to Bulgaria and three ships to the Black Sea to join NATO naval forces, and France stands ready to send troops to Romania.

Biden’s national security team has been working with several European nations, the European Commission, and global suppliers on contingency plans if Russia cuts off energy, according to two senior administration officials who briefed reporters about efforts to mitigate spillover effects from potential military action. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations.

If needed, Europe would look to natural gas supplies in North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. The effort would require “rather smaller volumes from a multitude of sources” to make up for a Russian cutoff, according to one official.

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With a winter weather advisory warning of hazardous travel conditions, drivers should use extra caution on Illinois roadways, but for those looking to check the conditions before heading out, there’s a map for that.

The Illinois Department of Transportation’s Getting Around Illinois website offers a look at current winter conditions across the state.

Using a map, the site tracks which roadways are clear and which are partly, mostly or completely covered with ice or snow.

It also highlights so-called “trouble spots,” where things like blowing snow have been reported or bridges and roadways prone to icing.

IDOT on Friday urged drivers to consider postponing unnecessary road travel this weekend as heavy snow, bitter cold and gusty winds threaten the Chicago area during a winter storm taking aim at the region.

IDOT expects the winter storm will “create hazardous conditions across the state,” including extremely slick conditions and poor visibility.

“IDOT crews will be out on the roads but conditions could still be extremely hazardous, so we encourage motorists to ask themselves if they really need to make the trip,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman in a statement. “If you do have to travel, remember that the bitter cold and wind reduces the effectiveness of the materials we use to treat snow and ice. There will be lengthy travel times so make sure to prepare your vehicle in the event you are stranded.”

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday for several counties and at noon for others.

Forecasters say that steady, blowing snow will be the primary threat from the storm, causing dangerous travel conditions throughout the area.

Snow accumulations will vary widely depending on the track of the storm, but forecasters say that accumulations of greater than six inches are possible, along with northeasterly winds gusting in excess of 35 miles per hour.

Travel will be difficult at times during the storm, with blowing snow expected to dramatically reduce visibility in open areas.

Forecasters say that the steadiest snow rates will likely occur from 2 p.m. through 8 p.m. Saturday.

IDOT said more than 1,800 trucks and equipment will be deployed statewide to treat roads and respond to weather emergencies. Drivers are asked to slow down and increase driving distance if you encounter a plow or maintenance vehicle.

If you must travel, IDOT recommends:

• Take it slow, especially when approaching intersections, ramps, bridges and shaded areas that are prone to icing.
• Make sure your gas tank is full.
• Keep a cell phone, warm clothes, blankets, food, water, a first-aid kit, washer fluid and an ice scraper in your vehicle.
• Check the forecast and make sure someone is aware of your route and schedule.
• Carry a cellphone and dial *999 in the Chicago area for assistance in case of emergency.
• Reminder: Using handheld phones while driving is illegal in Illinois, unless it is an emergency situation.
• If you are involved in a crash or break down, remain inside your vehicle, which is your safest form of shelter. Exiting your vehicle into live traffic can have fatal consequences.
• Always wear a seat belt, whether you’re sitting in the front seat or back seat. It’s the law.

IDOT provides regular updates on statewide road conditions at www.gettingaroundillinois.com.

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United States’ Hilary Knight looks on before a women’s hockey game against the Canada, Oct. 22, 2021, in Allentown, Pa. (AP Photo / Chris Szagola, File)

Cammi Granato had never forgotten the young girl she lent her stick and gloves to during one of the former U.S. Olympian’s first hockey camps in Chicago in the late 1990s.

It was years later when Granato discovered that girl just happened to be Hilary Knight.

“Her stick broke and I said, ‘Here, just take mine right now,’ because she didn’t have another one. I mean, she was so little,” Granato recalled. “I remember her distinctly at that moment. I didn’t know it was Hilary until Hilary told me years later that it was her.”

Knight was 8, and drawn to the sport in large part due to Granato, who captained the 1998 United States team that beat Canada in Nagano to win the Winter Olympics’ first women’s hockey gold medal.

The symbolism of her passing the stick on to Knight isn’t lost on the 50-year-old Granato.

Much like Granato and her teammates did to inspire a generation of girls to take up hockey, the 32-year-old Knight is doing the same, having become the face of a U.S. team preparing to defend its latest Olympic title at the Beijing Games.

“That’s the one thing I really admire about this group of women. They’re actually out there growing the game, pushing the envelope for more rights, for more equality while they’re playing,” said Granato, the first female Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who now serves as a scout for the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

“So Hilary, both on and off the ice, what she means for the growth of the game is exponential,” she added. “She’s an incredible role model. She’s got a great personality. She’s fun. She a lethal goal-scorer. … she’s a powerhouse.”

Knight, who grew up in north suburban Lake Forest, is making her U.S. women’s hockey record-matching fourth Olympic appearance in which she’s won a gold and two silvers.

The 5-foot-11 forward has a powerful skating style and hard shot, with Knight ranking fifth in the U.S. Olympic record book with 17 career points (six goals, 11 assists), one behind Granato. At the world championships, Knight surpassed Granato’s records (44 goals and 78 points) in August by increasing her totals to 47 goals and 80 points.

A few months later, Knight was still having difficulty grasping the reality of moving ahead of her idol.

“It still feels so distant still,” she said. “It still feels very much that Cammi’s No. 1 to me, personally, you know? Because that’s what it feels like, right? I still feel very much so like a little kid in many ways.”

She continues to play because of the joy she still draws from hockey. Yet Knight has proven more than capable of taking on many of the challenges women have faced in advancing the game.

Knight was at the forefront of the U.S. players’ threat to boycott the 2017 world championships on home soil, successfully achieving their bid for better pay and more equitable treatment from USA Hockey. Two years later, Knight helped form the Professional Women’s Player’s Hockey Association, which continues to push for a North American women’s pro league with sustainable wages.

On the ice, Knight has led the U.S. in points and/or scoring at five world championship tournaments. At the 2017 worlds, she scored the overtime goal to seal a 3-2 win over Canada in the gold medal game.

Knight’s dual impact has earned her immense respect from teammates and opponents.

“She puts her team before her always, and fights until the end,” Finland captain Jenni Hiirikoski said. “We have a lot of good battles on the ice, and she’s a really big star for our game. It’s been an honor to play against her so many years, and hopefully she’ll also play many more.”

U.S. forward Kendall Coyne Schofield sees a direct connection to Granato.

“When I was a young girl, I looked up to Cammi Granato. Now, no one’s Cammi, but when you look at someone who carries the weight of this sport on her shoulders like Cammi did … you can put Hilary Knight in that category,” she said. “So what does Hilary Knight mean to this game? You can’t put it into words. You just watch it evolve in front of your eyes.”

Knight politely deflects the attention, focusing ahead on the next challenge in becoming the first U.S. team to successfully defend its Olympic title. There is always a new test to keep her coming back.

“Honestly, coming in every day and being humbled by the sport because it’s a challenge, right?” Knight said. “That’s what keeps us all hungry to continue to come back and try to be a part of this team. The women in that room are incredible, and it’s intoxicating in a way. You just want to be a part of it.”

Knight recalls attending Granato’s camp, but a more vivid memory is a meeting they had in 2006, when the national team held an exhibition game against the Choate private school boys’ team in Connecticut. Her only disappointment was school officials not letting her suit up and play.

That summer, however, Knight earned an invite to join the national team, and a year later made her debut while being awarded Granato’s No. 21 jersey.

Knight is now the team’s senior member. Difficult as it’s been to watch many of her contemporaries retire, her passion to keep playing is rekindled by the young, talented newcomers. Just don’t tell her that defender Caroline Harvey was 5 when Knight made her national team debut in 2007.

“Yeah, I don’t do math any more,” Knight said, with a chuckle.

Reminded the U.S. series of pre-Olympic games was called “The MyWhy Tour,” Knight shared her why.

“It’s for the next generation. I went through this experience. I had great role models,” Knight said. “And to be able to spark some sort of inspiration in the next generation, to go out here and do better than we’ve done it, is at the end of the day my why.”

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CHICAGO (AP) — A man known as the “Dreadhead Cowboy” has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in connection with a rush-hour horseback ride he took along Chicago’s Dan Ryan Expressway in 2020.

Adam Hollingsworth pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated animal cruelty and was sentenced to a year in prison by a Cook County judge, court records show.

With credit he earned while on electronic home monitoring as his case was pending, Hollingsworth could be released from the Cook County Jail as early as Monday.

Dreadhead Cowboy halts traffic on Dan Ryan in protest, arrests made

Hollingsworth was arrested in September 2020 after disrupting traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway while galloping his horse, Nunu, amid rush hour traffic in an act of civil disobedience he said was intended to draw attention to gun violence against children.

Hollingsworth’s ride resulted in extensive delays on the expressway, with traffic backed up for miles.

Previous Coverage: Horse of ‘Dreadhead Cowboy’ recovering after injuries on Dan Ryan

Officials initially said the horse was so severely injured by the eight-mile ride on asphalt that it might have to be euthanized, but Nunu was later reported to have significantly recovered.

Hollingsworth had become known earlier in 2020 for his positive interactions with police and protesters amid frequent protests against police brutality. He had also made appearances in Chicago neighborhoods to promote the U.S. census.

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A dose of a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is prepared at Lurie Children’s hospital, Nov. 5, 2021, in Chicago. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Three studies released Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots.

They are the first large U.S. studies to look at vaccine protection against omicron, health officials said.

The papers echo previous research — including studies in Germany, South Africa and the U.K. — indicating available vaccines are less effective against omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but also that boosters significantly improve protection.

The first study looked at hospitalizations and emergency room and urgent care center visits in 10 states, from August to this month.

It found vaccine effectiveness was best after three doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in preventing COVID-19-associated emergency department and urgent care visits. Protection dropped from 94% during the delta wave to 82% during the omicron wave. Protection from just two doses was lower, especially if six months had passed since the second dose.

The second study focused on COVID-19 case and death rates in 25 states from the beginning of April through Christmas. People who were boosted had the highest protection against coronavirus infection, both during the time delta was dominant and also when omicron was taking over.

Those two articles were published online by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published the third study, also led by CDC researchers. It looked at people who tested positive for COVID-19 from Dec. 10 to Jan. 1 at more than 4,600 testing sites across the U.S.

Three shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were about 67% effective against omicron-related symptomatic disease compared with unvaccinated people. Two doses, however, offered no significant protection against omicron, the researchers found.

“It really shows the importance of getting a booster dose,” said the CDC’s Emma Accorsi, one of the study’s authors.

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Here is a new way you can watch local news, 24 hours a day, seven days a week – for free! 

NBC 5 has launched NBC Chicago News on Peacock.

Here, you will see around-the-clock local news coverage. The channel will feature simulcast and encore news programming from NBC 5, with the ability to add breaking news and original content in the future.

Our lineup delivers news, weather, sports, investigative reporting, lifestyle content and our local storytelling, wherever you want to watch on Peacock. 

Here’s how to see NBC Chicago News on Peacock: 

• First, go to PeacockTV.com or download the free Peacock app for your streaming device, phone or tablet. It’s available for iPhone or Android.
• Then, click on the “channels” tab in the app. 
• Scroll through the channels to NBC Chicago News. 

New local channels also launched today on Peacock from NBC10 Philadelphia (WCAU), NBC10 Boston (WBTS), New England Cable Network (NECN), and NBC6 Miami (WTVJ). Channels from NBC 4 New York (WNBC) and NBC 4 Los Angeles (KNBC) will be available to stream for free in the months ahead. 

Peacock also features live and on demand channels including NBC News NOW, Sky News, TODAY All Day, NBC LX, Telemundo Al Día, and Dateline 24/7. 

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CHICAGO (CBS)– Police are investigating several break-ins that were reported on the Northwest Side and Northwest suburbs overnight.

Chicago Police said a group of four approximately men smashed the front door of a liquor store in the 4600 block of Cumberland Avenue just before 4 a.m.. The men, wearing masks and gloves, stole a cash register and took off an an SUV.

READ MORE: Chicago Has ‘Formally Passed The Omicron Peak’ As New COVID-19 Infections Decline, Hospitalizations Level Off, Top Doc Says

A gas station in Norridge was also broken into on Lawrence Avenue near Cumberland Avenue. The offender tried to take cash from the register and when it would not open, he took the whole register.

The suspect pumped gas before taking off.

Also overnight, two different businesses in Elmwood Park were targeted by thieves.

READ MORE: No Changes To Chicago Travel Advisory; Every State Remains On The List For 3rd Week In A Row

The first was a food mart near 77th and Belmont Avenue where a cash register was left on the sidewalk.

The second incident took place at George’s Bar on Belmont Avenue.

A spokesperson for Elmwood Park confirmed a black Jeep was involved in all four burglaries, and it appeared the same three people were responsible for each of them, with a fourth person possibly driving the getaway vehicle.

MORE NEWS: 15-Year-Old Killed, Five Other Juveniles Wounded In Trio Of Shootings In Chicago On Tuesday

Police in Chicago, Norridge, and Elmwood Park are working together to investigate the burglaries.

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CHICAGO (CBS) — A woman and her ex-husband were found dead Tuesday morning in an apparent murder-suicide at an apartment complex in Naperville.

Police said, around 7:30 a.m., officers responded to a domestic incident at an apartment complex on the 1300 block of Crab Apple Court.

READ MORE: Cook County Opening 3 Mass Vaccination Sites This Week

After several attempts to contact the people inside the apartment, officers entered the unit, and found a woman who had been shot. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

READ MORE: Man Seriously Wounded In Shooting In Hyde Park; Possibly Involving University Of Chicago Police

Officers later found her ex-husband, a man from Michigan, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the apartment.

MORE NEWS: Teens Shot In Chicago’s West Englewood Neighborhood

Police said the incident remains under investigation.

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