A man was shot to death and another person was pistol-whipped Saturday in River North on the Near North Side.
Bernardino Mercado, 26, was walking on the sidewalk with another male about 11 p.m. in the 100 block of West Hubbard Street when he exchanged words with a male suspect in a car, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The suspect then got out of the car and started hitting the male with a handgun, authorities said. He then shot Mercado in the chest before continuing to hit the other person with the gun.
Mercado, who lived in Avondale on the Northwest Side, was pronounced dead at the scene, police and the medical examiner’s office said.
An autopsy conducted Sunday confirmed Mercado died of his gunshot wounds, the medical examiner’s office said. His death was ruled a homicide.
The suspect got back in his car and drove off, police said. No one is in custody as Area Three detectives investigate.
The shooting happened in the midst of large-scale protests downtown in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a curfew in effect from 9 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday after clashes between protesters and police resulted in multiple police SUVs being flipped over or set on fire.
