CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago authorities are looking into the fatal shooting of a man who was shot while broadcasting live on Facebook from the city’s West Side.
Warning: The video in the player above may be disturbing to watch.
A video viewed almost two million times on Facebook showed Kevin Watson, 42, getting out of a car. Seconds later, gunfire can be heard.
It happened mere blocks away from a police station in South Austin.
Close friends of the victim who witnessed the deadly shooting spoke exclusively with ABC7.
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The shooting happened around 6:14 p.m. Wednesday in the 5000 block of West Madison Street in South Austin, Chicago police said.
Watson was sitting in a car when another vehicle approached and someone inside began shooting, CPD said. He died from his injuries.
The Cook County Medical Examiner confirmed the victim’s identity.
Watson’s family and friends have been left in mourning after his final moments were captured on Facebook Live.
Lamar Spencer, close friend of victim and witness
“He was choking for breath,” Watson’s cousin Jacquez Smith said. “He was trying to struggle to breathe.”
All of it unfolded right after Watson left his cousin’s job at a nearby liquor store to begin his Facebook Live in his car.
“I wouldn’t have let him leave the store,” shared Smith. “He was a decent man. Despite any mistakes, he always helped others, including helping me secure this job here.”
Close friends, turned heartbroken witnesses, said Watson was talking to someone as he was walking to his car.
Alvin Jackson, a close friend and eyewitness, mentioned, “He was conversing with someone and heading to his vehicle when the person trailed him. The assailant then drew a gun on him. In the struggle that ensued, the gun discharged.”
Police said the 40-year-old man was shot in his chest.
“I rubbed his palm and I squeezed his hand, and he wouldn’t squeeze back,” said Lamar Spencer, a close friend and witness.
Relatives said he leaves behind a 6-year-old son and said Watson was killed just weeks shy of his own birthday.
Close friend Freddie Collier expressed, “We need to learn how to move forward and support each other daily to overcome this, as it affected more than just one person. It hurt many of us.”
Police haven’t given a motive behind the shooting. So far, no one has been arrested.
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