On July 19, 2023, 23-year-old Miguel Mendoza was killed in a shooting on Joliet’s east side. Police say the incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. at the intersection of Second Avenue and Baker Avenue. Officers responding to multiple reports of shots fired found an SUV that had struck a parked vehicle in the 100 block of Baker Avenue; Mendoza, the SUV’s driver, was unresponsive with gunshot wounds to the chest and arm. He was taken to Ascension St Joseph Medical Center, where he later died.

Investigators learned a 16-year-old boy was taken to Silver Cross Hospital by a private vehicle with a gunshot wound to the leg; police say that wound may be related to the same shooting and the incident is described as targeted in nature. The Joliet Police Department canvassed the area and launched an active investigation; no suspects have been identified or arrested. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Joliet investigations unit or Crime Stoppers of Will County.

Did anyone in the area see or hear anything around Second and Baker that afternoon?