Gunfire hits Park Ridge home; no one hurt
By Mickey Ciokajlo
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 3, 2002

James Keating was watching a movie Tuesday evening with his wife and two of their daughters in their Park Ridge home when they thought they heard fireworks outside the front door.
Keating got up to investigate, but flying debris forced him back and he realized somebody was shooting into his house around 6:50 p.m.
"My wife started yelling, `Get on the floor!'" Keating said Wednesday.

On Wednesday Park Ridge police were investigating the shooting that shattered glass, shook up the Keating family, but injured no one.

Police have no suspects and have not determined whether the shooting was random or whether the family was targeted.

Two other shootings--into a closed business at night and into an unoccupied car--occurred in Park Ridge last month. Police have not determined if Tuesday's shooting is connected to those cases, which remain unsolved, Deputy Chief Thomas Swoboda said.

Keating, 58, a Chicago lawyer who specializes in legal malpractice, said that until he learned of the other shootings he wondered who would want to hurt him and his family. He believes his house was a random target and Park Ridge police should have done more to make residents aware of the potential for danger.

"I want people to know that in Park Ridge there's somebody going around with a gun," Keating said. He said he wanted the media to see what had happened "so there's enough pressure put on [the police] to find these guys."

Bullets shattered the narrow glass on both sides of the front door and at least one bullet went through the solid oak door. Keating said a bullet ricocheted off the fireplace and then off his youngest daughter's arm. She was not injured, he said.

Police said five or six shots were fired. They would not say what caliber weapon was used, but Keating said an investigator told him it appeared the bullets were from a .357 magnum or a .45.

The Keatings built the house in the 1500 block of North Dee Road that neighbors refer to as the "Irish Castle" and have lived there since 1993. Keating said occasionally strangers who are drawn to the house ask if they can look around, but the Keatings have not had any trouble since they moved in, he said.

Keating said he was disappointed to learn that police classified the shooting as a reckless conduct case. However, if police make an arrest or get more information, the charges could change, Swoboda said.

The bullets recovered at the Keating home have been sent to a lab to determine whether the shooting was related to the December shootings.

On Dec. 19, five shots were fired into an unoccupied car in the 500 block of Root Street, Cmdr. Peter Bostrom said. A week earlier, police were called to a dry cleaners in the 1000 block of Busse Highway where a rear door had been damaged by three shots.


Another nail in the coffin of Illinois gun owners.
This wasn't posted in the story, but it was on the news. This one lady who is a resident in the home referred to the bullets as being the "size of a half-dollar."
Size of a half-dollar????

ArmaLiter

I saw the reports, and the interviews on the TV.  Park ridge is a north side burb of the city.  Right on it. Still republican.  
I dont think its a nail for us, I think it added to our ranks.  
Its a good $$$ city to live in, but has some crap areas next to the lutheran general hospitial.
I went thru that town on NYE, not much going on then.
c-rock