Shortly before midnight on February 16, 2022, gunfire was reported in an East Chicago neighborhood after a ShotSpotter alert detected 13 rounds. Officers responding to the 4900 block of Homerlee Avenue found a blue SUV with Illinois plates parked with its hazard lights on. Robert A. Silvestre, 30, of Calumet City, was found unresponsive in the rear driver’s side seat with a fatal gunshot wound to the left side of his head; medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

A 28-year-old woman from Chicago, described as Silvestre’s girlfriend, ran to officers with a gunshot wound to her face and was taken to St. Catherine Hospital in serious but stable condition. The East Chicago Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Lake County Crime Lab processed the scene and opened a homicide investigation. Detective Isaac Washington was named as a contact and an anonymous tip line was made available.

No arrests or suspect identifications have been publicly announced and authorities have not released a motive or the events leading up to the shooting. If anyone has information that could help identify those responsible, please contact the investigators.