Shooting leads to murder charge

HAMMOND | "A Crown Point man was charged with murder Saturday after a Friday night Hammond shooting that left one man dead.

Killed was Julio Rios Jr., 18, of the 4200 block of Henry Avenue in Hammond.

Donald Sutton Jr., 30, of the 9600 block of Lincoln Street in Crown Point, told police he stepped out of a tavern in the 900 block of Hoffman Street about 9:30 p.m. for some fresh air when he saw a man breaking into his vehicle, which was parked nearby.

Sutton told police the passenger-side window of his vehicle was smashed, and the man was leaning inside up to his waist.

Sutton said he yelled at the man, who straightened up and took a couple steps toward him. That's when Sutton pulled a semi-automatic pistol from under his shirt, he told police.

Bar patrons told police they heard a single gunshot, followed a few seconds later by several shots in rapid succession.

Rios was taken to St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Hammond with multiple gunshot wounds in his back and was pronounced dead by Lake County coroner's personnel at 10:20 p.m.

Witnesses said Sutton walked back into the tavern after the shooting and told the bartender to call police. When officers arrived, a handgun was confiscated from Sutton, police said.

Detectives took Sutton's statement about the incident to the Lake County prosecutor's office, which filed a single count of murder against him Saturday."

Anyone who's taken a lot of shots at moving targets will tell you that it isn't unusual to aim and fire at a man facing you, only to hit him in the back as he turns to seek cover, concealment, or flat out beat feet.

"Multiple gunshot wounds in the back" does give me pause but not enough to say that this was a bad shoot. I can offer several scenarios in which it would be possible for an experienced gunner to crank out a series of rounds that landed in the targets six, and as usual the story is full of more holes than dead Mr. Rios so who knows.