CHICAGO (AP) - A man Chicago police describe as a gang member with two gun offense convictions was charged Monday with murder in the slaying of a man who was shot over the weekend near Millennium Park, a popular downtown tourist attraction.
Paul Pagan, 32, was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of 54-year-old Peter Fabbri of suburban Berwyn, Chicago police announced. Pagan is accused of shooting Fabbri in the head after they got into an argument Saturday night near the park.
Fabbri and two women left a wine-tasting event and were walking near the park when Fabbri got into an argument Pagan, police said.
Pagan pulled out a gun and shot Fabbri once in the body, then shot him in the head a few seconds later, according to police.
Police said the two women tried and failed to stop Pagan from getting away.
“I chased him through the street and tried to hold the bike down,” the victim’s sister, Shelly Fabbri, told WLS-TV. “His girlfriend comes and punched me and ripped my shirt. I wind up on the ground.”
Police officers responding to the shooting obtained a description of the offender, arrested Pagan a short time later and recovered a weapon.
Fabbri was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died late Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Chicago police say in addition to two convictions, Pagan is a gang member, has long been on the department’s “strategic subject list” and was considered someone who would be a likely perpetrator of gun violence.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Pagan had an attorney. He doesn’t have publicly listed phone number.
Millennium Park is a 25-acre downtown green space that hosts numerous cultural events. Its most popular attraction is “The Bean,” a stainless steel structure with a mirror-like surface.
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